Policy Resolution LWD-21-10

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) has long been supportive of pay equity between men and women, and recognizes that pay equity is one of the greatest steps we can achieve in gender equity;

WHEREAS, Equal Pay Act of 1963 states that men and women must be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment;

WHEREAS, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, even so, wage gas persists;

WHEREAS, currently the gender wage gap is .81 cents on the dollar when comparing all working women to all working men, regardless of job occupation, industry, education, geography, etc., and the gap grows even larger for women of color;

WHERAS, as workers’ rights have increasingly come under attack in recent decades, African American women have been particularly vulnerable to globalized corporate attempts to cut costs and boost revenue;

WHEREAS, Black women, in line with women generally in the US workforce, are crowded into low-wage occupations, in part due to the kinds of occupations that were historically open to African American women;

WHEREAS, studies suggest that African American women’s labor power is largely undercompensated by employers, with tangible implications for income and asset-building in the Black community; and

WHEREAS, as women constitutes almost half of the workforce and companies that want to be competitive with a social conscious in the marketplace will be those that develop and implement programs to address the wage gap issues.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), agree that, every worker has the right to equal pay for equal work regardless of their gender, race, religion, national origin, age or physical or mental abilities, and supports legislation that will end that wage gap;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL, urges all employers to engage in pay equity and analysis to ensure equal pay between all employees in similar roles; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials and agencies as appropriate.

• SPONSOR(S): Senator Brenda Gilmore (TN)
  
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Labor and Workforce Development Policy Committee
  
• Certified by Committee Chair: Senator Ronald L. Rice (NJ)
  
• Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2020
  
• Ratification is certified by: Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC), President