Pennsylvania isn't just big. It is, like New York, more like a
collection of states. It is industrial, post-industrial, rural, and
urban with a hugely diverse population. Consequently, there are many
issues. Campaigning there is an enormous challenge. Hillary was in
Jenkintown today with Lilly Ledbetter for a "Breaking Economic Barriers
Conversation" with local women. Here is some news coverage of the event.
Lilly Ledbetter is trending on Twitter, and this is why. Every once
in awhile an endorsement comes along from a living icon. Such was
the case when John Lewis endorsed Hillary back in October as he launched "African Americans for Hillary."
It is the case once again today as Lilly Ledbetter joins the ranks of those standing firm in support Hillary Clinton.
My story paved the way for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Together we can fulfill its promise.
When
I became an overnight shift manager at the Goodyear plant in 1979,
there weren’t many women on the job (and the few that didn’t stay
long). But I worked my way up, and in 1996, I even received the plant’s
“top performance award.”
It wasn’t until 19 years after I’d started that I learned I was being paid less than my male colleagues.
One
evening, I came into work early, checked my mail, and there it was: an
anonymous note that listed my salary and the salaries of three men with
the same title. I was being paid significantly less for the same
job—less than I deserved and less than my family needed.
The easiest thing to do would have been to let it go. But that’s not who I am.
I
took my case all the way to the Supreme Court. But they ruled that,
though I had clearly been discriminated against, I had filed my case too
late to be compensated.
Luckily, we live in a country where, when the laws are wrong, we can do something about it.
Seven
years ago today, President Obama signed his first bill into law: the
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier to challenge wage
discrimination in court. It was an important step toward equal pay for
women, and an important victory for the increasing number of American
households where women are the primary breadwinner. Under this law, no
one else will ever have to accept the gender discrimination I faced
without the chance to challenge it in court.
But
this isn’t just my story. It’s the story of women working full time
across this country who, despite new protections, are on average still
earning just 78 cents for every dollar a man earns—with women of color
often being shortchanged even more. That’s money their families are
losing out on.
Our next president can either build on the progress
we’ve made and go even further—or dismiss this important issue. Women
across this country need more than rhetoric; they need action—they need a
fighter in the White House.
I firmly believe Hillary Clinton will be that fighter.
Hillary
has spent decades fighting to advance women’s rights and economic
opportunities. We fought side by side to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Act,
which she co-sponsored in the United States Senate, and she has been a
tireless champion for the Paycheck Fairness Act—legislation that would
go even further to address the pay gap. And she’s put issues like equal
pay, affordable child care, paid leave, and reproductive rights front
and center in her campaign.
Hillary understands that these issues
can’t be dismissed or pushed to the sidelines. They’re not just “social
issues”—they’re fundamental to our country’s economic future, and they
are at the heart of everything she’s fighting for on this campaign. For
Hillary, this is about more than politics—it’s personal. She just gets
it, plain and simple.
Of all the candidates in this race, she is
the one we can count on to be a fierce and uncompromising champion for
women, for basic fairness, and for opportunity for everyone. She’s not
just a steadfast supporter of issues that affect women’s lives; she’s
someone who has been there. She doesn’t just say the right things; she
does the right things. And when it comes to finally closing the gender
pay gap once and for all, that will make a world of difference.
Hillary's first bill when she came to the Senate in 2000 and the last which she reintroduced days before resigning her Senate seat to become Secretary of State was passed and signed into law on January 29.
There were efforts to make this look like an Obama initiative. Both Obamas made a big show of this day, but all in the know were aware of Hillary's role.
