Per the Associated Press, the majority of Senate Republicans denied a Democratic bill on Monday aimed at forcing employers to pay women the same as men in the workforce. In fact, ALL 4 GOP Women voted against this bill as well. The Democratic Party knew the bill would be denied but proposed it around this time to hopefully gain support from female voters in the elections this Fall.
The reason why Republican senators blocked the bill with the support of the Chamber of Commerce was because of the thought that workers would successfully win legal damages in court from past employers; the proposed bill would make it harder for employers to defend themselves against pay disparities that are justified. (For example, a worker accepting a lower pay in exchange for more flexible hours.)
This Monday’s vote was 52-40, which was eight short of the 60 votes needed for passage. Democrats have vowed to revisit the issue in the heat of this fall’s campaigns. The Census bureau figures show that on average, women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. However there is much debate over how much that reflects actual gender discrimination. Furthermore, Census Bureau numbers show that men tend to out-earn women in comparable jobs and with equal amounts of education, while on average, women tend to accept shorter hours than men and are likelier to take lower-paying jobs.
How ironic that this bill was proposed and in the works while this past week the main discussion in the main media has been about the NFL’s supposed “Negligence” towards their views on women and Domestic Violence. Recently, we have had US congress, the National Women’s Organization & SIXTEEN FEMALE SENATORS make their voice heard about their “Displeasure” over the NFL’s actions towards the Ray Rice incident. Keep in mind, the NFL has slightly less than 2000 individuals who actually play & are paid to play in the NFL. A small number of people that probably could not even support a private college institution. And yet, when there’s a bill that is proposed that could positively impact MILLIONS of women in the country…….it ends up being rejected! But people want to debate about whether the NFL “Respects Women or not.” Life’s funny sometimes…
-JRC
Product Of Society 