Women's Committee Report April 2006

First, the Women's Committee is still seeking volunteers for our Fifth Annual Flight for Sight Fun Run to benefit Guide Dogs of America on May 20th. The event will be held at the Everett Boeing Activity Center with registration starting at 8 a.m. and the run/jog starts at 9:30 a.m. followed by the walkers at 9:45 a.m. There are sign up sheets at all Union offices. Registration forms are available at all Union offices or click here for a pdf version of the registration form

Second, we wanted to talk about Pay Equity Day this month. More than forty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials. Women earn less in every occupational classification for which enough data is available, including occupations dominated by women such as cashiers, retail sales, registered nurses and teachers. This wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $523,000 in a combination of lost wages plus the impact on Social Security benefits and pensions.

On a national level, women were paid on average only 77 cents for every dollar a man was paid in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So, we encourage you to wear red on Tuesday, April 25, which is Equal Pay Day, to symbolize how far women and minorities are "in the red" with their pay. This date is based on the approximate time in a new year at which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.

Today, most Americans support equal pay for work of comparable-not merely identical-value. It is past time to ensure it is achieved. For more information on this, visit http://www.pay-equity.org/