Nationally on average white women earn 75 cent for every one dollar a man makes. For Black women, the pay gap is wider at 63 cents on the dollars and 56 cents for Latina women. Cassandra Welchlin with Black Women’s Roundtable says they have been advocating for equal pay for equal work at the state capitol for years, but no legislation has passed. Welchlin says it’s time for Mississippi to be fair to women.
“We just want to go home and be able to take care of our families and live a dignified, equitable life in our communities. And Mississippi depends on women’s labor. We have been the backbone of our economy here and so it’s time that the state gives that back to us in our paychecks,” Welchlin said.
Now Welchlin has called on 83-year old Lilly Ledbetter to testify before the senate labor committee to heighten awareness about the issue. Ledbetter worked as a supervisor at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in Alabama. She sued the company in the 1990’s after receiving an anonymous note she was being paid less than men doing the same job.
“It just hit me like a ton of bricks in my stomach. I, I just wanted to run and hide because I didn’t know where that note came from, how many people in this factory know this and I didn’t,” Ledbetter said.
Ledbetter won a $3 million settlement. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the award in 2007 ruling she didn’t file the discrimination complaint within the required time frame. In 2009 President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which gives workers more time to file complaints.
“It’s a hardship. Women are basically trapped and that’s why I get up everyday and if I have an opportunity to like speaking with you today, I have to do it because it is so critical in this country,” Ledbetter said.
According to the Labor Department, the pandemic has stalled gains made by women to close the wage gap.
