Member of TN BPW/USA
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Wiseman Declares April 24 as Equal Pay Day

 

 

Laurie Pierce, Michele Wright, Kristina Craven, Gail Humphrey,

Juanita Hatley and Kathryn Montgomery watch as Jimmy Wiseman

signs proclamation for Equal Pay Day.

 

 

Members of Benton County Business & Professional Women (BPW) met with Jimmy Thornton on March 6, to sign a proclamation declaring Tuesday, April 24, 2007 as Equal Pay Day.   Jimmy Thornton enthusiastically agreed to recognize that day.  April 24 is the day in 2007 that women have earned enough to equal what a man made in 2006 for doing the same job.  The women will mobilize on that day to call attention to the wage gap in which women, on average, earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.  In Tennessee, however, the average is much lower.  Women only make 72 cents to a man’s dollar.   Because women, on average, earn less, they must work longer for the same pay.  Over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $530,000 in lost wages 

 

“Poll after poll has demonstrated that unfair pay ranks as one of the top issues of concern for working women.  The wage gap affects women throughout their working lives and then follows them into retirement where they receive lower pension and Social Security benefits based on the salaries they received while working.” Said Nancy Jackson, President of Business and Professional Women/USA.

 

Benton Co. BPW members will join hundreds of BPW local organizations and countless other organizations across the nation to educate women and men about pay inequity and to offer solutions to wage discrimination. 

 

Benton Co. BPW President, Michele Wright, stated, “America, and Benton Co., is facing a downturn in the economy.  Women and their families can no longer afford to be shortchanged.  Benton Co. BPW, along with the Tennessee Federation of BPW, is committed to working toward an end to the wage gap.  We will encourage businesses to pay women fairly, push for laws that will enforce current equal pay legislation and educate women on how to negotiate for higher salaries.  It has been 40 years since the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act were passed yet women and people of color are no closer to seeing pay equity.  These laws are difficult to enforce.”   In 2004, Tennessee passed the Equal Pay Remedies and Enforcement Act.  This Act will pose sanctions on employers who are found in violation of the Equal Pay Act.  (S)he would be liable to the affected employee the amount of the unpaid wages, as well as impose further compensatory and punitive damages. 

 

 

If you are interested in learning more about Equal Pay Day and important legislation that affects working women, visit a BPW meeting scheduled for the fourth Monday of each month at Faith Christian Fellowship Church at 6:00 p.m.