Equal Pay Passes

[Red Dawn]

It's about time and maybe this time, the Democrats can make it happen. It's also about time that the US Congress managed to quit lagging behind other democracies and had proper representation for women, but that's another issue. Equal pay for equal work is a no brainer, which is why the GOP was against it.


House approves bill to fight wage discrimination

The House has passed legislation to assure that employers live up to their four-decade-old legal promise to provide equal pay for equal work.

Democrats led lawmakers in approving a bill making clear that women who are victims of gender-based discrimination can sue for compensatory and punitive damage.

The chamber was also voting on a bill in response to a Supreme Court decision that workers must file a discrimination claim within 180 days of a pay violation. Supporters of changing the law said many workers don't find out about wage disparities for years.

The two bills, coming in the first week of the new Congress, attest to the worker rights agenda of the Democratic-led Congress and the incoming Democratic president, Barack Obama.


House approves bill to fight wage discrimination - Yahoo! News

and americablog

 

[DiamondDave]

I agree with equal pay for equal work

So.. .for this bill to be right ac cross the board... if women are given paid time off via benefit for child birth.. the men better also receive the same benefit... because not allowing that gender based discrimination is also wrong

 

[Red Dawn]

I agree with equal pay for equal work

So.. .for this bill to be right ac cross the board... if women are given paid time off via benefit for child birth.. the men better also receive the same benefit... because not allowing that gender based discrimination is also wrong

God damn, excellent. We'll make a Scandinavian socialist out of you yet.

I had no idea you were in favor of Scandinavian socialist policies. We agree! Paid paternity leave is a staple of those liberal socialist countries. We should have it!

Well done! So, you'll be oppossing republicans on these gender issues, I take it?

 

[Paulie]

Equal pay for equal work is fine, but I don't see why men need to have equal time off to match maternity leave. The poor women spent 9 months carrying the baby, throwing her brains up, being uncomfortable ALL THE TIME, and finally squeezing the thing out of an orifice a fraction of the size. In the least, the woman earned the time off to care for the baby. The man's job is to continue working to provide.

 

[jillian]

Equal pay for equal work is fine, but I don't see why men need to have equal time off to match maternity leave. The poor women spent 9 months carrying the baby, throwing her brains up, being uncomfortable ALL THE TIME, and finally squeezing the thing out of an orifice a fraction of the size. In the least, the woman earned the time off to care for the baby. The man's job is to continue working to provide.

unless you can't not work after giving birth ... in which case, the dad should be able to take leave time, too.

 

[Paulie]

unless you can't not work after giving birth ... in which case, the dad should be able to take leave time, too.

Well sure. But I was talking about matching. If the woman HAS to work, then SOMEONE needs to be able to care for the baby.

 

[jillian]

Well sure. But I was talking about matching. If the woman HAS to work, then SOMEONE needs to be able to care for the baby.

ultimately, it's because the laws have to be gender neutral to pass constitutional scrutiny. I am glad to see it looks like they circumvented Ledbetter.

 

[Red Dawn]

Dave,

I'm wondering where you got the impression that american women get paid maternity leave?

Is that something you heard on the Sean Hannity show?

Or, perhaps are you a student, or or otherwise not professionally employed?

Because paid maternity leave is not a mandated law in this country, and with close to two decades of professional experience under my belt, I've never worked at a company that gave paid maternity leave. Women typically were offered 6 or 12 months of unpaid leave to care for a new born.

Women would know better than me, but that's my understanding.


edit: In contrast, most civilized countried, notably in europe and scandinavia have pro-family policies that mandate some combination of paid materinity or paternity leave.

 

[Paulie]

Based on how my girl was after our son was born, I feel bad for any woman who has to go right back to work. Her and her can of Desitin were joined at the hip. Err, pelvic bone.

 

[jillian]

Based on how my girl was after our son was born, I feel bad for any woman who has to go right back to work. Her and her can of Desitin were joined at the hip. Err, pelvic bone.

lol... i hear ya. I'm glad I had a c-section.

But i also had my own practice at the time so i was only off for five weeks. that sucked but wasn't anything to do about it.

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

Employers should be able to make any wage/compensation offer they want, for any reason they want. Potential employees can take the offer, or go somewhere else.

 

[Paulie]

Employers should be able to make any wage/compensation offer they want, for any reason they want. Potential employees can take the offer, or go somewhere else.

Yes, but what SHOULDN'T happen is the government legislating it.

 

[garyd]

Okay the the bull in the china shop here is what constitutes equal. There has been an equal pay for equal work law for decades here in the US. The problem has always come up concerning exactly what constitutes equal work.

 

[alan1]

I'm still waiting for an equal work for equal pay law.

 

[Gem]

Why should a private business owner be required or mandated to pay a person for months when they will not be working due to a personal choice they made?

Trust me, I'm currently pregnant...paid maternity leave would be absolutely lovely. Having my husband be able to take a similar amount of time off to be home with me, helping and bonding with our child would be fabulous.

But why on earth should our employers be forced to pay us while we are doing nothing to help their businesses? If an employer chooses to do so, GREAT! I absolutely would feel a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude to my employer or my husband's for such kindness...which I would reflect in my continued loyalty and strong work ethic to the company when we return to work..

But to somehow say that the government should step in and force companies to do such a thing...just seems like one more step in a wrong direction.

And if I decided to have 3 or 4 kids (cause after all...with insurance and paid maternity/paternity leave...the costs of having kids drop dramatically)...is my employer or my husband's employer supposed to be happy about paying us for the years of work we aren't doing for their business? And if that business has several employees who are pregnant or have pregnant spouses....or hundreds...how exactly is a company to stay in business paying those peoples salaries AND the salaries of whomever is hired to temporarily fill their positions?

Perhaps I'm missing something...how are the nations that provide such services maintaining productivity and viability in businesses with long periods of paid leave for both parents?

 

[garyd]

Somewhere around half of those gun deaths are suicide. Another significant percentage are justifiable homicide where in a felon was shot by a cop or a citizen while in the act of committing a felony.

Counting suicides is disengenuous, counting the other two is worse.