The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, and the retail giant agreed to settle. Wal-Mart will now pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages to women who were wrongfully denied employment.
Jennifer Ludden reports for WBUR: “The very first bill that President Obama signed into law dealt with equal pay for women, but activists say it’s done little to close the ongoing difference between what men and women earn.”
For more than a decade, I’ve been writing about issues like Social Security, pay equity and caregiving, and as I look closer at my mother’s history, the importance of NOW’s work on these issues becomes clearer than ever.
While we contemplate our current economy and working conditions in the United States, we realize that a lot of disparities affect women in a uniquely negative way.
I don’t think we can wait to see if there is a brighter tomorrow. We need to lay the foundation now. We need to say that this is the reality — that we want work to make sense for those who are employed. That we want work and family dynamics to make sense for women.