WILLIAMS RALLIES FOR EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN

Harrisburg, April 23, 2003 – State Senator Connie Williams (D-Montgomery/Delaware) yesterday spoke at an Equal Pay Rally at the State Capitol. The rally addressed the findings of a recent AFL-CIO report which stated that Pennsylvania women earn, on average, 73 cents for every dollar paid to men for the same work. The report also stated that, at the current rate of change, it will take women until 2050 to close the gap.

“For every $100 the average woman earns, she will see $24 less than her male counterpart. That is $24 less for groceries, childcare, and other household expenses,” Williams said.

“Equal pay isn’t simply a women’s issue. When women get equal pay, family incomes rise and the whole family benefits.”

This is the fourth year an Equal Pay Rally has been held.

Williams said she supports two resolutions, which call for state and federal studies on the causes of the pay disparity.

Williams noted that Pennsylvania ranks 43rd among states in equal pay and the effects of the pay disparity are long-term.

“Women’s pensions and retirements are less than those of men because of the pay gap.”

Williams also said that, according to the National Committee for Pay Equity, 40 percent of poor women would not need welfare assistance if they were paid the same amount as their male counterparts in the workplace.

“The figures are even worse for minority women,” Williams said.

“African American women earn only 67 cents and Latinas 55 cents for every dollar that men earn.”

“Women and minorities deserve to be paid according their productivity and economic growth, not by their gender or the color of their skin,” Williams said.

“I hope that my colleagues will take a step in the right direction and join us in calling for state and federal studies so that we might close the pay gap once and for all.”