Pay equity advocates gather in Lansing

Jen and Lucie Salvatore

Lucie Salvatore has a pretty good idea what pay equity is all about. Which is not bad for someone just seven years old.

"I have a little brother Charlie," she said. "It would be like if we each had to do chores, do dishes, vacuum the rug, and clean our rooms, and then Mommy said Charlie could have a dollar, and I could have 75 cents, and that wouldn't be fair."

Lucie's mother Jen Salvatore spoke on behalf of the Michigan Women Trial Lawyers during Tuesday's Equal Pay Day Rally, held at noon in the State Capitol Rotunda. She said she brought Lucie because "I thought it was an important issue. I thought it would be a good opportunity for her to see women legislators."

Lucie will be writing a report for her class about the event and creating a scrapbook, she added.

Salvatore spoke to a crowd of more than 50 women and men gathered to mark the day of the year when women's average pay is equal to men's average pay from the previous year. Equal Pay Day is always held on Tuesday, because that's how far women have to work into the week to match men's wages.




Leading the event was American Association of University Women Michigan president Sally Doty, who said, "It's great seeing this sea of red. It would be great if we didn't need it."

Red is worn, she explained, is worn to represent how far women and people of color are in the red when it comes to equal pay.

State Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) announced she and other lawmakers would be introducing a pay equity package of bills in the state legislature this week. Bills in the package would make gender pay discrimination illegal under the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act, establish penalties for the violation and create a pay equity commission to study the gender pay gap in Michigan, Bauer said.

New this year is a wage transparency bill, which would open up information about wages so that women will know whether their wages are comparable to men's, said State Sen. Rebekah Warren, (D-Ann Arbor).

"One of the last stumbling blocks for women going into salary negotiations is ... we don't necessarily know the pay scale," she said. "So we don't know what to ask for."

The information would be carefully revealed, redacting personal information. The information made available will show what a person in a job category makes, taking into account education and experience.

A pay equity package of bills has been introduced in every legislative session for at least 20 years, Bauer added.

"By working together, we'll keep at this we'll keep pushing it," she said. "Maybe one year we'll get it passed, but we're going to work hard all of us again this year."

Other organizations supporting the event included Business and Professional Women Michigan Federation, Coalition of Labor Union Women-Metro Detroit, League of Women Voters Michigan, Michigan American Council on Education Network for Women, Michigan National Organization for Women, Michigan Women's Commission, Michigan Women's Foundation, National Council for Jewish Women Greater Detroit Section, Michigan Pay Equity Network, The White House Project, Women's Center of Greater Lansing and the Michigan Women Lawyers Association.