Pass the Fair Pay Act

[Joanne98]

by mcjoan
Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 12:55:48 PM PDT
The Senate is schedule to vote this evening, 6:00 pm EDT, on H.R. 2831, the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act," which already passed the House nearly a year ago.

The NYT editorial board explains:

Last year, the Supreme Court tossed aside longstanding legal precedents and government practice to make it much harder for an employee to sue over unlawful pay discrimination.

The 5-to-4 ruling came in the case of Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in Alabama, who over several years received smaller raises than men in comparable positions. A jury found that Goodyear violated Ms. Ledbetter’s rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But a majority of the Supreme Court decided she was entitled to nothing based on a cramped view of the 180-day deadline for filing such claims. They decided that Ms. Ledbetter had to sue within 180 days of the company’s discriminatory raises and that the persistence of unfairness from check to check was not relevant.

Fortunately, the Senate is scheduled to consider a modest bill on Wednesday that is aimed at restoring the original intent of the law. It poses a test of each senator’s commitment to combating pay discrimination....

The act’s defeat would please the Bush White House and the United States Chamber of Commerce. It would be a significant civil rights setback.

Passing this bill would make displeasing the Bush White House and the Chamber of Commerce just the icing on the cake. What's really at stake is an assertion of fundamental civil rights. It's a concept so basic that even Fred Hiatt's WaPo editorial board has reversed course to support the legislation.

The ACLU reports that they are very close to having the necessary 60 votes for cloture on the bill. Please take a few minutes to contact your Senators and urge them to vote for cloture on H.R. 2831 this evening.

Update: Here's a specific target. Minnesotans, be sure to call your flip-flopping Senator, Norm Coleman. Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/23/152155/465/531/501861

[TomClash]

1. This is a no-brainer

any Dem who votes against this is a DINO.

[midnight]

2. Cave dwellers in the house dragging their bare knuckles.....

Slopped foreheads can't even imagine a fair payscale for women.

[RC]

3. The repug are against this bill because it would cause too many law suites.

Well, Duh! How about equal pay for equal work. That is the problem in the first place, too many women don't receive less pay for the same work.

[meow2u3]

4. Those right-wing thugs in robes expect women to read their boss's mind

They also expect them to know beforehand whether or not the pay raises are discriminatory.