Senators Block Fair Pay Vote
An effort to invoke cloture on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was rejected,
56-42 on Wednesday night, marking a devastating blow to working women across the country. Cloture is the only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill, and thereby overcome attempts to block or delay action on it. The vote against cloture effectively denied the Ledbetter bill a fair hearing on the Senate floor.
Had it passed, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would have reversed last year's Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Rubber & Tire Co, in which a 5-4 majority ruled that workers must challenge pay discrimination within 180 days of their employers initial decision to pay them unfairly.
Prior to the Court's decision, workers could file up to 180 days after their last discriminatorily low pay check -- a practice that reflects the lack of transparency about pay decisions that is common in the workplace. As plaintiff Lilly Ledbetter explained in Congressional testimony last year, "You can't expect people to go around asking their coworkers how much they are making, at a lot of places, that could get you fired. . . Plus, even if you know some people are getting paid more than you, that's no reason to suspect discrimination right away. Pay can go up and down and you want to believe that your employer is doing the right thing and that it will all even out down the road."
Six Senate Republicans (Coleman, Collins, Smith, Snowe, Specter, and Sununu) and most Senate Democrats voted for the cloture motion. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who supports the bill, ultimately voted "nay" as a procedural tactic that will allow him to raise the issue again at a later date.
Thank you to everyone who made calls and wrote letters in support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. The fight is not over yet and Women Work! will continue to work with our coalition partners and all of our members to pass the important legislation.
