Today is Equal Pay Day, representing the extra time the average working woman has to work in order to make as much money as the average working man makes. In recent years, women have made just 80% of what men make for doing the same job.
This is a complicated issue that we must tackle on many fronts. For starters, 46 states have laws requiring that women are paid the same wages as men for the same work.
Democrats in the General Assembly, led by Senator Mia McLeod and Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter, have introduced legislation that would bring us into line with the vast majority of the country in addressing this issue.
There is no excuse for not passing this law. Please call your Republican state legislators and tell them to support S. 0257 and H. 3599. We will not stop fighting until we have achieved pay equity for SC women. One day soon, Equal Pay Day will cease being a reminder of a problem to be solved. Through our hard work, it will become a celebration of a victory achieved.
