| April 2004 |
|
Contents:
|
Chief Executive Officer's Message |
|---|
| Dear Women Work! Members: Equal Pay Day is April 20, 2004. Equal Pay Day symbolizes how much longer women must work to make a salary equal to men’s salaries from the previous year. Women on a whole continue to earn 20 cents less on every dollar than men, even when they have the same education and workplace experience. Women of color face an even wider gap. On average, African-American women earn 64 percent of white men's earnings while Hispanic women earn only 52 percent. Since 1961 the wage gap has been slowly closing at a rate of less than half a penny per year. At this rate it will take nearly 90 years before women have reached pay parity. Unfortunately, the decrease in the wage gap has more to do with the decline of the male salary than the rise of the female salary. One of the main factors influencing the wage gap is discrimination. Women are often hired less frequently in high-wage establishments, given fewer promotions, fewer benefits, and lower pension packages. Some of the gap can be attributed to that fact the women continue to be segregated into low-paying occupations, such as retail, service, and clerical jobs. There are also differences due to education, experience and time in the workforce. Women are more likely to move in and out of the workforce because of family obligations, such as raising a child or caring for a loved one. However, a significant portion of the gap cannot be explained by any of those factors. After examining 18 years of data, the GAO report, Women's Earnings: Work Patterns Partially Explain Difference between Men's and Women's Earnings, found that the 20 percent earnings gap can not be explained, even when accounting for demographic and work-related factors such as occupation, industry, race, marital status and job tenure. To protest these inequalities please take part Equal Pay Day, on April 20. Equal Pay Day involves thousands of local activities focused on eradicating wage discrimination against women and people of color. Local Equal Pay Day activists organize rallies, lobby days, speak-outs, letter-writing campaigns, workshops, and meetings with employers, policy-makers, and enforcement agencies to promote effective solutions for closing the wage gap. Red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are "in the red" with their pay. For more information and an Equal Pay Day kit, visit the National Committee on Pay Equity at www.pay-equity.org. Sincerely, |
Hart & Millender-McDonald Promote PACT Act
On Wednesday, March 10, the Pathways Advancing Career Training (PACT) Act received well-deserved attention at a congressional briefing sponsored by Congresswomen Melissa Hart (R-PA), and Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA). Introduced in the House on February 4, 2004 as HR 3764, the PACT Act provides $200 million to states to serve single parents, displaced homemakers and students training for nontraditional occupations. Women Work! and the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE) worked extensively with the Congresswomen on the PACT Act.
The briefing highlighted the success of career training programs and stressed the importance of the PACT Act. Rep. Hart spoke about her relationship with Pennsylvania Women Work! programs and her efforts in the Pennsylvania state legislature to successfully pass a similar bill. Rep Millender-McDonald recalled her time as a Gender Equity Coordinator in California and stressed the value of career training programs for ensuring the strength of the nation’s workforce.
Other speakers included Jill Miller, CEO of Women Work! and chair of the NCWGE Vocational Education & Workforce Training Taskforce; Marjorie Bynum from the Information Technology Association of America; and Mary Ann Eisenreich, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Women Work!. Success stories from Pennsylvania, including Sherry Weber, Lisa Delowery, and Comfort Fordjour, spoke about the impact programs had on their lives and their families. Ashley Bruce-Berry, a student at Spingarn Senior High School in Washington, DC, shared her experiences as the only female in her high school’s automotive classes. She is currently training to be a mechanic.
The PACT Act currently has 24 co-sponsors, including Rep. Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Brown-Waite (R-FL), Rep. Davis (D-IL), Rep. English (R-PA), Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Hinojosa (D-TX), Rep. Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Kennedy (D-RI), Rep. Kind (D-WI), Rep. Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Lantos (D-CA), Rep. Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Rep. Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Napolitano (D-CA), Rep. Norton (D-DC), Rep. Owens (D-NY), Rep. Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Platts (R-PA), Rep. Rush (D-IL), Rep. Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Rep. Watson (D-CA), Rep. Wilson (R-NM), and Rep. Woolsey (D-CA).
For more information on PACT, contact Katherine Reilly, Policy Associate, at (202) 467-6346 ext. 24 or kreilly@womenwork.org.
TEA-21 Reauthorization Bill Heads to President
On April 2nd, the House of Representatives passed HR 3550, the Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU). The bill reauthorizes TEA-21, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which was enacted in 1998. TEA-LU authorizes $275 billion over six years for highway, bridge, and mass transportation projects.
The Senate passed S. 1072, their TEA-21 reauthorization bill, titled the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA), on Feb 12th. SAFETEA provides $40 billion more than the House bill for transportation funding.
Both TEA-LU and SAFETEA maintain the On-the-Job Training Supportive Services (OJT/SS) provisions. OJT/SS allows state departments of transportation to use federal funds to train women, minorities, welfare recipients and other disadvantaged groups for highway construction and technology jobs. These funds are frequently referred to as "½ of 1% of funds." States are allowed to use ½ of 1% of federal funds allotted for highway and bridge construction projects on these training programs. Services can include pre-employment counseling; orientation to the expectations and requirements of the highway construction industry; basic skills improvement; support for contractor recruiting; counseling, remedial training, and physical examinations; assistance with transportation, child care and other special needs; job site mentoring; and post-graduation follow-up.
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), who is sponsoring the PACT Act (H.R. 3764), attempted to offer an amendment on the House floor that would create local job training and workforce development programs with TEA-LU funds. The measure would require contractors bidding on federal transportation projects to include a plan to perform community outreach and recruit local workers to be trained and employed on the project. The contractor would coordinate with community-based organizations, non-profit job training groups, and apprenticeship programs to obtain workers for the project. Unfortunately, Rep. Millender-McDonald’s measure was not permitted on the House floor due to technical rules, but the Congresswoman plans to offer the measure during the conference process.
Selected members of the House and the Senate must now conference their bills, where key differences between the two laws are reconciled. This conference is expected to be contentious, as President Bush has threatened to veto any transportation bill that exceeds $275 million. Women Work! will continue to monitor the progress of this reauthorization and report any new developments.
A widely anticipated Senate vote was scheduled for TANF during the week of March 29th. TANF, the cornerstone of the landmark welfare reform law passed in 1996, had been extended five times since it was originally set to expire in 2002. However, shortly after debate began, TANF became embroiled in the on-going political struggle between Democratic and Republican agendas.
On March 30th, debate on the Senate floor quickly turned to the Snowe-Dodd amendment, sponsored by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), which would add $6 billion in new funding to the Child Care and Development Block Grant. After rigorous debate from both sides of the aisle, the amendment was passed 78-20, with many Republicans voting to pass the measure. The Senate then passed the 6th continuing resolution on TANF, extending current law through June 30th.
Later in the day, several other amendments were introduced, including the Boxer-Kennedy amendment, introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). This measure would increase the minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.00 an hour by 2006. The amendment would raise the annual salary of an individual working a full-time minimum wage job to $14,560. Although the issue of the minimum wage is clearly related to the welfare debate, it was clear that the Democrats intended to use the vote on TANF as a vehicle to pass several important measures that have been stalled in the Senate for months. Among these were the controversial amendment that would block the Department of Labor from implementing changes to overtime rules (see article below), and a measure to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed.
That evening, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), in an attempt to control the situation, filed a motion for "cloture" on the TANF vote. Cloture is a procedural step that requires 60 votes to pass. However, if cloture is invoked, debate is limited to 30 hours and only amendments that pertain directly to the issue are considered.
On April 1st, the cloture motion failed on party lines, allowing Democrats to offer amendments on minimum wage, overtime rules, and unemployment insurance. It is widely expected that the Republican leadership will block a TANF vote, as the bill is now a legislative vehicle for key Democratic provisions.
DOL Overtime Rule in OMB Review
On March 30, the Department of Labor sent a final rule for changing overtime regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for thier review. The OMB has up to 90 days to approve the rule. Changes to the overtime eligibility rules were proposed in March 2003 and caused great outcry by advocates for low-income workers and unions.
The DOL argue that overtime eligibility rules, which were established over 50 years ago, need to be clarified and updated. Under the proposed rules, DOL estimates would make 1.3 million low-income workers eligible for overtime, while taking eligibility away from 644,000 white-collar workers. However, opponents to the rule changes argue that as many as 8 million workers could lose the right to overtime pay.
In the Senate, Democrats are attempting to block the administration from changing overtime rules. Sen. Harkin (D-IA) re-introduced an amendment that passed with bipartisan support last fall as part of the FY 2004 labor appropriations bills, but was stripped when various appropriations bills were rolled into the one omnibus bill. The amendment would allow DOL to update and clarify eligibility rules, but prevent them from restricting overtime eligibility for workers. Harkin and other democrats have attempted to attach the amendment to other bills including welfare reauthorization and a corporate tax cut bill. Republican leadership and the Administration are fighting against the bill and seeking to prevent its passage.
Advocacy Tip of the Month Get your Legislator to visit your Program! Legislators are always eager to make personal connections with their constituents; however their schedules in Washington, DC can make it hard to connect with them. Throughout the year, legislators return to their districts to do work and meet with their constituents. These work periods are a perfect time for you to reach out to your legislator and start building a relationship. The next district work period for both the House and Senate is May 24-28, 2004. It is best to invite your legislator when you have a special event or activity, such as a legislative day, graduation, a "get-out-the-vote" rally or community project. Call your legislator’s district office and ask them how to schedule a site visit – legislators have different processes that they use to decide which community events they will attend. Let them know you want the legislator to speak at the event. It is very important to give legislators their time in the limelight. Be sure to follow up with the staff to make sure she/he is going to attend. Next, call your local media to let them know about the event and that your legislator will be attending. Also, invite your board members and other community leaders. Make sure to take lots of pictures! Afterwards, send a thank you note with a copy of your current newsletter detailing the site visit and copies of the pictures. For more tips, visit the Women Work! website at www.womenwork.org |
The Economic Equity Insider is published monthly while
Congress is in session and is a benefit of membership with Women Work! |
| Women Work! The National Network
for Women's Employment 1625 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 |
Phone: (202) 467-6346 Fax: (202) 467-5366 www.womenwork.org |