Rebecca Vasko wrote in an earlier blog entry:

Wednesday, while campaigning in poverty-ridden towns in Kentucky, John McCain voiced his opposition to a Senate bill that would have made it easier for working women to sue for pay discrimination.

Said he, "I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what's being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems. This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system."

Well, gee. We certainly wouldn't want government to play a greater role in protecting the American people, would we? After all, government's job is to play a greater role in protecting big business. (Note that in recent weeks McCain has proposed new tax breaks for corporations.)

You all (Northern for y'all) know I have something to say. Technical note: had trouble posting my comment to Rebecca's entry in situ, so I thought I'd try it here instead.

I used to be a leader in Benefits and Compensation for a nearly century-old Fortune 150 company (and EEO/AA designee). As the lead, I had access to all the pay records...for everyone at ours--the largest division of the company. Women were being paid less than the men. Period. It didn't' matter what their education was, how long they'd been on the job or their previous experience. This company was one of the world's largest producers of Bibles, to add to the fun. I couldn't even get this issue on the RADAR until I mentioned to my manager, a woman, that she was being paid less as a manager than the male supervisors.

There are lots of problems with this issue (Warning: rant approaching):

The policy would restrict women (or men, because they face pay discrimination as well) to filing within 180 days of the the time when the discrimination first occurred rather than 180 days from the time that they learned of the possible discrimination. Many women don't even begin to realize that something was amiss until they began to prepare for retirement--sometimes decades after the first instance of discrimination happened. Demanding that these and other women, who don't know that their lying, sneaky bosses paid them less, file within 180 days...well, that's nice. We certainly don't want discriminating businesses to have to worry that they may be made to pay if they're caught. Hell, there's a longer statute of limitations on theft (which, to me, pay discrimination most certainly is) or rape (which also helps steal bits of a woman's future).

McCain said: "This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system." And we know how well business worked and played with others before there was government regulation: think child labor, substandard wages, unsafe work environments, oh and fucking pay discrimination! Our economy works when business succeeds and business succeeds when people succeed. Think back to the ginormous sex discrimination suit that was brought against Mitsubishi a few years ago...and the precipitous drop-off in auto sales for that manufacturer, particularly from the auto buying female public. Businesses left to do as they will, fueled only by the "mo money, now, y'all" mandate from stockholders (most of whom don't care or don't want to know whether the company is guilty of wrongdoing...so long as they don't get caught) hurt themselves and the economy. That would be bad, people.

McCain said: "I am all in favor of pay equity for women...." I just don't know what to say on this one. Like many white men, he seems blinkered to the fact that this proposed law doesn't, in fact, say "Don't discrimination against women." It prohibits pay discrimination in its many forms. Like the Civil Rights Movement, which at its heart sought to forward the rights of Black Americans and advanced the rights of all citizens, this act seeks to add teeth to the anti-discrimination policies (go to to see how poorly we're doing even with the laws on the books), making it clearer that if you discriminate, you don't just get to run out the time clock.

Only those who don't know how pay discrimination manifests itself would demand that women (or men) report it so quickly. How would most of them know?

Besides, as  long-time business owner, I'm all for the government helping small businesses eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade. However, when they are barriers that we, ourselves, have made, said governnment should not have to step in to prevent the spanking we so richly deserve.

Lalita Amos's blog | login or register to post comments