Lauren McCauley On Equal Pay Day, women workers, businesses call for end to workplace discrimination

In Augusta on Tuesday, Maine women and advocates marked the annual Equal Pay Day with a celebration and promise to double down in the fight for full economic justice between the sexes.

This year, April 2 marks the symbolic date that women’s pay “catches up” to the wages their male counterparts took home in 2018. On average, full-time working women in Maine make 84 cents for every dollar men earn. For women of color, that gap is much worse. Black women in the state make just 65 cents for every dollar made by a white man.

Under the State House dome, Maine legislators in the House and Senate indicated their support for closing this gap by passing a bill, LD 278, which would amend the Maine Human Rights Act to protect against pay discrimination by barring prospective employers from asking about an employee’s pay history.

“Equal pay day is about recognizing women’s worth and paying women what they deserve,” said bill sponsor Sen. Cathy Breen (D-Falmouth) at a press conference.

Read more: https://mainebeacon.com/on-equal-pay-day-women-workers-businesses-call-for-end-to-workplace-discrimination/