Mississippi only state without equal pay law - WAPT Jackson
Women work to ensure equal pay
JACKSON, Miss. —
Two women are working to make sure women across Mississippi get equal pay.
"Mississippi is right now the only state in the country without an equal pay law," Cassandra Welchin said.
"I know personally, very personally, what this means to these women and their families," Lilly Ledbetter said.
Welchin, executive director of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, works to spotlight women's issues across the state.
"It's antiquated that we don't have an equal pay law in the state of Mississippi, and it's been devastating on women's households and on the state economy," Welchin said.
The 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act was named after this Alabama native. It was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama.
"I didn't know until after 19 years how much less I was making because I worked for a corporation that said if I discussed my pay with any coworker, I would lose my job. I would not have a job, so I was fearful of it," Ledbetter said.
Together, they want to pull Mississippi out of last place in closing the wage gap for women. Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company after learning how much less she made than the men who worked there. She won, but she didn’t profit.
"I never got a dime. Even though the federal trial awarded me $3.8 million, but the Supreme Court took it away," Ledbetter said.
Now, she's helping Welchin take the equal pay message to Mississippi lawmakers at an upcoming hearing at the State Capitol.
"They have mothers, they have daughters, and the question that arises is, 'don't you want your daughters to be able to be equal in the workplace?'" Welchin said.
They hope the next legislative session will be the one where a bill is finally passed.
"I'm excited to be invited to be part of helping Mississippi. If it hadn't been for the virus, I would be down there waving my flag, because as Cassandra said, education is the point," Ledbetter said.
source: https://www.wapt.com/article/mississippi-only-state-without-equal-pay-law/37772502
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