Dozens of women and men stood on the steps of City Hall yesterday to fight for equal pay for women on National Equal Pay Day in New York City.
Public Advocate Letitia James alongside Council member and Co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus Laurie Cumbo, Comptroller Scott Stringer, members of Local Union 1180 Communications Workers of America and various other lawmakers and advocates united to demand for women’s economic justice.
This year’s Equal Pay Day coincidentally fell one day before the scheduled vote for Intro.1253, which will “prohibit employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s salary history during all stages of the employment process with the goal of reducing the likelihood that women will be prejudiced by prior salary levels and help break the cycle of gender pay inequity.”
“For the eleventh year in a row we are here today because despite all of our efforts to obtain equal rights – the right to work, the right to vote – we women still do not have the right to equal pay.This year, this year is different from all others because on Equal Pay Day we have something to celebrate. Tomorrow the members of the City Council, led by the Women’s Caucus will be voting on a bill [Intro 1253] that will make it illegal for employers to request previous salary information from any job applicant. Because we all know, especially for women of color already experience wage disparity, asking for previous wage information only perpetuates that discrimination,” said James.
According to a policy report conducted by the Public Advocate’s office, women in the New York City make approximately $5.8 billion less in wages each year than men. In addition, women of color are disproportionately hurt by the gender gap, with Hispanic, Black and Asian women experiencing a 54%, 45% and 37% wage gap compared to white men, respectively.
“Debt, poverty and homelessness are the realities faced by women living paycheck-to-paycheck, unable to meet the inflated cost of living in New York City. Women represent half of our city’s population and workforce and yet we have been short changed by the very economic system that would not flourish without our contribution. Though women have outpaced men in education, earning more advanced degrees, many have been benched in their career advancement as a result of previous salary history. Like I’ve always said, men are so much stronger, so much more powerful when under the leadership of women, said Cumbo.
Back in December of last year, more than 1,500 minority women who hold administrative managerial jobs in almost every city agency, filed a notice of claim against the city, demanding retroactive pay amounting to a total of $243 million, after realizing that they were being “grossly underpaid” compared to their male counterparts in the same position.
At the rally, President of Local CWA 1180, Arthur Cheliotes, announced that the case had been resolved in the form of a settlement with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration earlier in the morning through a phone call right before the event.
“These members [of Local 1180] were administrative managers in the managerial service. They were starting out at $53,000 a year, we have been able to now with this settlement, depending on the type of work that they do, to get them almost $90,000 a year. I’m a father, I’m a husband, I’m a son, I consider the women in my life my equals. Why shouldn’t they be paid the same wage as everyone else doing that work would get,” said Cheliotes.
At the rally, attendees wore the color red to symbolize that women are still “in the red” due to the lack of equal pay. April 4 symbolizes the 98 extra days women have to work in order to make the same amount their male counterparts make in a year (365 days).
The City Council will vote on Intro. 1253 at the stated meeting today and if passed will be one step closer to closing the gender wage gap in the city.
