Economic Justice

On Tuesday, April 22, 2008 thousands of women from across the United States will join in a national day of action against unfair pay called Equal Pay Day.

April symbolizes the point into the new year that a woman must work in order to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous year. This means that women had to work about 113 days more just to catch up to the wages paid to men last year! This needs to change.

On a national level, women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man is paid, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. What happened to equality?

Is there a coupon out there that women could use until this wage gap closes? I think there should. How about a coupon for all women of 23% off or in the situation of Latina women 41% off everything that they purchase? Think this is foolish? Think about this: While women on average are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man is paid, Latina women on average are only getting paid 59 cents!

As a working Latina woman, I am extremely concerned about pay inequity. What’s worse is that at the rate we are going (less than half a penny per year) the wage gap between men and women will not close until 2057! I will be 71 years old by then. Women work too, we deserve equal pay.

There are a lot of ways to make a difference and take action on this issue. The first action we can take is sending a message to our legislators asking them to cosponsor bills that support equal pay. Another action we can take is wearing red on April 22, 2008. Red symbolizes that “women are in the red” by not getting paid equally. Let’s show our determination to end the wage gap.

Pay equity is not just a women’s issue. Pay equity raises family income, and that benefits everyone!

Sincerely,
Isela Gonzalez



Pictured above, ACT Board member, Denisse Mendez, joined the FLA in a demonstration to get information out about Equal Pay Day in April 2008. The demonstration was organized by FLA member, Isela Gonzalez.



FLA members standing on Mooney Blvd. as cars pass them by...