There's no stronger evidence that change is afoot in the 111th Congress than this encouraging bit of news: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed in the Senate last Thursday evening, January 22, 2009.
The act was named after Lily Ledbetter, a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employee who sought back pay when she discovered a large wage gap between her and male co-workers.
In the moribund 110th Congress, the act was voted down on April 23, 2008.
This time around the vote was 61 for and 36 opposed. There's a good chance it will be the first piece of legislation to signed by President Barack Obama later this week.
As the Washington Post reports:
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a main sponsor, noted that all 16 female senators voted in favor of the measure...."We've had an enormous victory," she declared.Ledbetter, who appeared alongside Mikulski after the vote, said that she spoke to Obama and that "he has assured me that he will see me in the White House, hopefully in just a few days."
Comments
This article was very useful and informative. Thanks for posting this article online! We are making a video about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act, and we were looking for some accurate information to back up our video.
Since 1923 women have tried to ratify an equal rights ammendment. Although the Ledbetter Fair Play Restoration Act is a step forward, I won’t be satisfied until we have the 28th ammendment to our Constitution in black and white.
Can anyone imagine men accepting that they just tmight not get paid as much as women? I’m beginning to think that a lot of women think we already have the Equal Rights A. ratified.
Others are not going to do this for us. I can’t imagine why the women in the Congress do not make this a top priority