Category: President's Letter

By Esther Bird

This is the month when we celebrate Equal Pay Day.

Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day dedicated to raising awareness of the gender pay gap. In the United States, this date symbolizes how far into the year the average median woman must work in order to have earned what the average median man had earned the entire previous year. The exact day differs year by year. Equal Pay Day 2023 is on March 14 to represent the current state of the gender pay gap: 83% for full-time workers and 77% for all workers (including part-time and seasonal).

Some people believe that this is a dead issue because of legislation passed in 1963. But they are mistaken. The Equal Pay Act of 1963, amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, protects against wage discrimination based on sex.

So why does this continue? When will women finally be paid equally for the work they do? 

How can we fix the gender pay gap? Strategies for narrowing the gender pay gap:

1. Raise the minimum wage. ...
2. Increase pay transparency. ...
3. Unionize workplaces. ...
4. Implement fair scheduling practices. ...
5. Expand paid family and medical leave. ...
6. Increase access to child care. ...
7. Stop basing employee pay on salary history. ...
8. Improve work-life balance.

March 25 is the date of our upcoming women’s workshop.  It will be held at the Jacaranda Library beginning at 10:30 for registration. Event begins at 11:00 and lunch will be served after the second speaker.

Every member should be informing others of the event and encouraging them to attend. The workshop will be very special with four dynamic speakers on topics of interest to the working women. Stephanie Marcusky is doing a great job coordinating the details for the event. You and your friends can go on our website to purchase a ticket for this event. bpwev.org  I hope to see you all there.

Our annual state conference is coming up on June 12 – 14. It will be held at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale. I plan to go and will be reserving a room that will sleep up to 4. If you are interested in joining us for a ride and a wonderful conference, be sure to let me know asap. For details, go to bpwfl.org.