Gov. Dave proclaims today Equal Pay Day

From the office of the Governor:

EQUAL PAY DAY
WHEREAS, forty-five years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials; and

WHEREAS, according to statistics released in 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006 year-round, full-time working women in our nation earned only 78% of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

WHEREAS, year-round, full-time working women in Wyoming in 2007 earned only 63% of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men; and

WHEREAS, women earn less than men in every occupation for which enough data is available, including occupations dominated by women (e.g., cashiers, retail sales, registered nurses and teachers); and

WHEREAS, educational attainment is not free from wage discrimination with women holding a graduate or professional degree earning 66% of the earnings of their male counterparts; and

WHEREAS, over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and

WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future retirement costs, while enhancing the American economy; and

WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 28 symbolizes the time in the new year in which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DAVE FREUDENTHAL, Governor of Wyoming do hereby proclaim Tuesday, April 28, 2009 to be

EQUAL PAY DAY

in Wyoming and urge the citizens to recognize the full value of women's skills and significant contributions to the labor force, and further encourages businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to ensure women are being paid fairly.

Hey, we're the EQUALITY STATE, aren't we? Paying less money to women is B.S. I don't quite understand a business owners motivation for doing this. Can it be that employers don't even realize this is happening? If it is being done on purpose, all I can say is "Knock it off!"

Source: http://governor.wy.gov/proclamations/equal-pay-day.html