FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Claudia Kerbawy
Phone: 517-367-7400
Email: info@alexanderforcongress.com
Website: alexanderforcongress.com

 

Lansing, MI – All Democratic Michigan members of Congress voted for Equal Wages for Women as the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, passed the House of Representatives on July 31, 2008. Bob Alexander, 8^th District Democratic Congressional nominee, strongly affirmed “I would have co-sponsored and voted for this crucial bill. Competent women hold the positions of Director, Media Director and Treasurer in my campaign. It is outrageous that equal pay is still an issue in 2008. We must change this tragic inequity as soon as possible.”

 

All of Michigan’s Republican representatives voted “No,” including Mike Rogers, Alexander’s opponent. They justified their votes on the basis that passage of the Bill would generate income for trial lawyers. According to House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio: “This bill does little more than dole out favors to the Democrats’ trial lawyer allies with no new benefit to protect workers.”

 

 

The Institute of Women’s Policy Research says wage disparity will cost a woman as much as $210,000.00 in lost wages over a 35 year working life. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, sponsored H.R.1338 that passed the House of Representatives on July 31. The bill passed by a 247-178 vote.

 

 

“Some will have you believe that the wage gap for women is a myth, that we already have laws in place to make pay discrimination on the basis of gender illegal,” said DeLauro, “but just because something is illegal, does not mean that it does not continue to happen.”

 

 

H. R. 1338 treats wage-based gender discrimination the same as race, disability and age discrimination. The bill allows for compensatory and punitive damages, bans employers from retaliating against workers who disclose their salary to colleagues, and forces employers to prove that paying a women less than a man is job-related and necessary.

 

 

Alexander, a staunch supporter of gender equality for over four decades, asserts that “the negative response by the Michigan Republican Representatives, including Candice Miller, demonstrates again that they only serve the corporate interests.”