Wear RED Tomorrow to Show Your Support for Pay Equality
The average woman earns just 80 cents to the dollar a man makes for the same work.
Equal Pay Day will be observed tomorrow, April 2nd. This date indicates the additional amount of time an average American woman must work into 2019 in order to earn the same amount of pay an average man earned in 2018. Because women are paid on average 80% of what men are paid, women must work an additional three months to catch up to their male counterparts. That wage gap is even greater for women of color.
While many creative ideas and pieces of legislative have been floated in recent years, there exists only one proven method for closing the wage gap—joining a union.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women who belong to labor unions earn, on average, $224 more per week than their non-union counterparts. This translates to an average of more than $11,600 per year. In addition to higher wages, women in unions also have access to better benefits, including paid leave, paid sick days, and cheaper health care plans, than their non-union counterparts.
Through the collective bargaining process, Teamsters Local 727 has worked to close the wage gap by negotiating pay rates based on job classification and years of service, not gender. Through decades of strong organizing and negotiating efforts, Local 727 has not only standardized wages, regardless of gender, across entire industries—like Chicago’s parking, valet, and funeral industries—but has also raised pay rates and improved benefits for all Local 727 Sisters and Brothers.
Local 727 also has the ability to ensure anti-discriminatory contract provisions are enforced because each and every Union collective bargaining agreement includes transparent wage rates and a formal grievance and arbitration process.
“Local 727 is proud to represent a diverse group of thousands of hardworking women and men in the Chicagoland area,” said John Coli, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 727. “We stand behind every single one of our members, regardless of their gender, race, or ethnicity. A Teamster is a Teamster, and we will fight for every single one of our Teamster members.”
Wear RED tomorrow on Equal Pay Day to show support for pay equality and help draw attention to how far women are “in the red” with their pay.
Category: Union News
