Richmond, VA - As George Allen continues his refusal to support equal pay measures like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, Politifact Virginia affirmed the 21 cent per dollar wage gap in the Commonwealth is real and a legitimate economic disadvantage for Virginia women.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine fired off a fundraising email June 6 lamenting the defeat of the Paycheck Fairness Act the day before. The legislation would have barred companies from retaliating against employees who inquire about pay discrimination and opened avenues for female workers to sue for punitive damages in cases of pay bias...Kaine’s wrote, "With a few more votes, we would have made an important step forward in helping narrow the gap between what women currently earn -- here in Virginia, only 79 cents to each dollar earned by men -- and the equal pay that they deserve," the email said.
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She [Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington] said the data that shows a 21-cent gap in Virginia has been used the longest and "provides the best reference for change over time." And the full-time, year-round employees the annual data includes are the "most committed" to work.
"Whichever way you measure a wage gap, a wage gap remains," Hegewisch said.
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