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July 22, 2002 Milt Jenkins Dear Milt: Thank you for contacting me. I hope you will pardon my delay in responding to you. Although great strides have been made in providing equal pay for women and minorities, wage discrimination still exists and it is time for it to end once and for all. Providing equal pay for work of equal value is a fundamental issue of fairness. Many women have broken the barriers to occupations traditionally held by men. However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women still earn only 72 cents to a man's dollar. While wage gaps can often result from differences in education, experience or time in the workforce, today's wage gap cannot be fully explained by all of those factors. For instance, there is no reason that a female social workers should receive less compensation than a male probation officer, if these jobs require comparable skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. But a Los Angeles study showed that social workers were making $20,000 less than probation officers. Back in 1999, as Ranking Member of the Labor Appropriations Subcommittee, I commissioned a Department of Labor study of federal contractors to take a look at how occupational segregation affects the wage gap. The draft report found that occupational segregation on people in 'woman's jobs' contributes to the 28 cent pay gap. It also found that if you compare women to men -- in the same jobs -- in the same firm -- with the same experience and skills -- they are still only paid 89 cents for every dollar a man earns. That 11-cent gap is unexplained -- and is what I believe constitutes pay discrimination. My legislation, the Fair Pay Act, would make it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, race, and national origin. Twenty states, including Iowa, have successfully implemented pay equity plans for government jobs. Canada has successfully enacted pay equity in both the public and private sector gradually over the last decade. When women experience pay discrimination, families get cheated too. Such gaps in income are life changing: it can mean the difference between welfare and self-sufficiency, or having a decent retirement instead of an uncertain old age. Women and minorities make up to 54 percent of the workforce and their salaries are an essential component of family income. I believe Americans have waited long enough for fair pay. Again, I apologize for my delay in getting back to you. Please keep in touch and continue to keep me informed of your views and concerns. Sincerely, Tom Harkin
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