Proclaiming May 11, 2000 as Equal Pay Day.

WHEREAS, More than thirty-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, Wage discrimination laws are not often enforced and extremely difficult to prove and win; and

WHEREAS, Although women's earnings have been slowly catching up to men's over time, the National Committee on Pay Equity tells us that this reduction in the wage gap has more to do with a fall in men's earnings than with an increase in women's earnings; and

WHEREAS, A vast majority of households depend on wages of a working mother and working families are often just one paycheck away from hardship; and

WHEREAS, Fair equity policies can be implemented simply and without undue costs; and

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

WHEREAS, May 11, 2000 symbolizes the day on which the wages paid to American women so far in 2000, when added to women's earnings for all of 1999, finally equal the 1999 earnings of American men; now therefore

RESOLVED, That May 11, 2000 be designated “Equal Pay Day” in the City of Philadelphia.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of the resolution be presented to the Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union Women to further express the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End