Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act key issue for women

EQUAL work deserves EQUAL pay. Unfortunately Lilly got the short end of the stick by a loophole in the law concerning statute of limitations. Im all for equal pay, but how much of the pay gap is because of the work performed??

Senator Obama should have shared his views on this far more than he did throughout the campaign.
All women should have heard where he stands as they represent half the populace and are taking on more and more positions of power in the world.
From what I've witnessed, Senator McCain and Governor Palin offer very little to further women's issues.
That's important to remember come tomorrow.

What is it that some don't understand about this!

How does this still go on?

I think Ms Lilly Ledbetter has either hid in a closet or Wants,Desires Gender wars.
She must be very upset because the USSC tossed her case out.,[Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor.], the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case,

Real facts about pay,
2007 women living in major American cities earned substantially more than men in the same age groups (women in their 20’s earned 17 percent more in New York, and 20 percent more in Dallas, Tex.), according to a study by Andrew Beveridge, of Queens College. Beveridge attributed the flip-flopped wage gap to the fact that, in cities, more women tended to be college educated than men, and their lifestyle choices bucked traditional gender roles.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6972840.stm

And

2007 study found that female executives (who are outnumbered eight to one in corporate America) earn roughly $16,000 more per year than male executives. Presumably, female executives believe in gender equality. Considering how relatively thin their ranks are, they know what it means to have fought for it.

Female U.S. corporate directors out-earn men: study
Wed Nov 7, 2007 3:33pm EST
By Martha Graybow
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0752118220071107?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

1 of 2 parts.
excerpt

When Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal announced her support for Obama earlier this week, she pointed to gender pay equity as an issue. Smeal would not comment on Obama’s Senate staff payroll, but said women voters should focus on the public policies of the candidates rather than other factors.
in fact the average annual male salary in Obama's office was $12,472 more than the average annual female salary.

CNSNews.com
Obama Pays Women Only 78 Percent of What He Pays Men
Thursday, September 18, 2008
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/article.aspx?RsrcID=35972&print=on

(CNSNews.com) – While Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has produced a television ad criticizing Sen. John McCain’s position on equal pay for women and pointing out that women in America are paid only 77 cents on the dollar compared to men, Obama pays his own female Senate staffers, on average, only 78 percent of what he pays male staffers.

Women on McCain’s staff, meanwhile, earn 24 percent more on average than women on Obama’s Senate staff. McCain also pays his female Senate staff members a higher average salary than his male Senate staff members.

Women occupy seven of the top 10 highest-paid positions on McCain’s staff, and five of the top 10 highest-paid positions on Obama’s staff.

The numbers come from the most recent Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which includes the salaries of every member of each U.S. senator’s staff during the period of Oct. 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008.

This is the second consecutive six-month period reviewed by CNSNews.com in which McCain, an Arizona Republican, has paid women on his Senate staff a higher average salary than he pays men and Obama has paid men a higher average salary than he pays women.

The pay gap between men and women in McCain’s office closed in the most recent six-month period compared to the previous period, but the pay gap widened slightly in Obama’s office. The CNSNews.com analysis included all staff members for each Senator—except those listed as “interns”—that were included in the Report of the Secretary of the Senate.

Gender issues have played a role in the presidential race recently as McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, the first woman to be nominated for vice president by the Republican Party. This week, the National Organization for Women formally endorsed Obama for president.

In the period from October 1 through March 31, Obama paid women on his Senate staff an average annual salary of $44,953.21, which was $12,472 less than the $57,425.00 average annual salary he paid men. Women outnumbered men on the staff 30 to 27.

McCain paid women on his Senate staff an average annual salary of $55,777.39, which was marginally higher than the average annual salary of $55,165.29 that he paid men.

In percentage terms, McCain paid female staffers 101 percent of what he paid men. Women outnumbered men on McCain’s staff, 26 to 16.

excerpt

2 of 2 parts

NOW President Kim Gandy did not view the pay disparity as a problem.

“It depends on what positions they’re in,” Gandy told CNSNews.com. “Certain positions are paid more than other positions. I do know quite a number of women very high up in his staff and in his campaign who are extraordinarily strong supporters of women’s rights. We don’t advocate people be hired because of their gender. We advocated people be hired and paid without regard to their gender.”

Thirteen of the 20 highest paid members of McCain’s Senate staff were women during the sixth-month reporting period. Eight of the 20 highest paid members of Obama’s Senate staff were women.

The Obama campaign ad says: “Today women work to help support their families but are paid just 77 cents for every $1 a man makes. It’s just one more thing John McCain doesn’t get about our economy.”

The highest paid female on Obama’s Senate staff for the six-month period ending in March was Carolyn D. Mosely, an administrative manager earning $50,499.96 for the period, or $100,999.92 per year.

The highest paid member of McCain’s staff for the period was a man, Mark A. Buse, an administrative assistant whose salary if adjusted for the year would be $168,981.24. Buse began working for the McCain Senate staff on Feb. 11 this year. Through the end of March he had earned $22,222.19.

The highest paid woman on McCain’s staff is Ann D. Beggeman, the legislative director, who earned $65,298.48 for the six month period, which would be $130,596.96 for a year.

On Obama’s staff one female and one male earned six-figure salaries. On McCain’s staff two of the three people earning six figures were males.

When Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal announced her support for Obama earlier this week, she pointed to gender pay equity as an issue. Smeal would not comment on Obama’s Senate staff payroll, but said women voters should focus on the public policies of the candidates rather than other factors.

“What I do know is on the issues that affect millions of women, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which fights wage discrimination, McCain votes no,” Smeal told CNSNews.com. “We’re looking at what they’re doing to impact the lives of working women and right now. McCain has been consistently a no vote on many important issues to women.”

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, if passed, would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination. The legislation was named after Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she waited too long to file a complaint. The court said that under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within 180 days of a decision regarding pay if alleged discrimination is involved. The bill sought to change the law, but Democrats could not muster the needed 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster in the Senate. Ledbetter spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August.

McCain opposed the legislation, though he was campaigning at the time of the vote. Obama voted for it.

In April, CNSNews.com reported on the previous Secretary of the Senate report, which covered the period between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2007. In that period, Obama paid the 36 men on his Senate staff an average $55,962 and the 31 women on his staff an average of $48,729.

McCain paid the 16 men on his staff an average of $56,628.83 per year and the 30 women an average of $59,104.51 (See story: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=31832 .)