Dear Feminist Activist in Montana,

I’m sitting here at my desk sending this email to you - NOT a computerized version - because time is short and your state is so very important to our effort to restore Fair Pay. YOUR SENATORS, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, need to hear from you. Please take action, pass this along, and contact me if you have questions or get answers from the Senators’ staff.

Thanks, Pat Reuss, Sr. Policy Analyst, NOW, 202 628 8669 x146

The women’s rights movement is mounting a campaign to pass legislation in the Senate (S. 1843) to restore women’s right to fair pay and right now the bill is stuck in the Senate without enough co-sponsors to get any movement going.

Neither of your Senators are co-sponsors, even though Senator Baucus has a fairly consistent record of support for women’s rights and Senator Tester has always been fair minded about women’s rights issue from his populist point of view.

Can you make these two phone calls to Senators Baucus and Tester in the name of fair pay? All of the contact information is below, including state and DC phone numbers and staff names working on women’s issues. We’re hoping that this failure to cosponsor the Fair Pay Restoration Act, S. 1843, is simply an oversight by Senator Baucus, and your phone calls with a few talking points will do the trick. Senator Tester, in his first term, may need a few more reminders about how important fair pay is for Montana’s working families.

Even though the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay bill (H.R. 2831) has passed the House, our supporters in the Senate cannot move the bill, S 1843, until it has more support from us and 30 or more Senate co-sponsors or at least tacit supporters. Our grassroots message is simple: We need to get this bill to the Senate floor and passed before Congress goes home this year. Next year will be election posturing with little attention to substantive reforms for women.

Our work is cut out for us but we can do it, because the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is a serious setback for women seeking to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace.

More than four decades after Congress outlawed wage discrimination based on sex, women continue to be paid, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. This persistent wage gap can be addressed and Congress’ intent vindicated only if women are armed with the tools necessary - including our day in court - to challenge sex and wage discrimination. Please take this opportunity to help undo the damage that has been caused by the Ledbetter decision and join our effort.

Please pass this message on to your friends and coalition partners. They can make the call or send an individual email to their Senators. http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=10323036&type=CO The system will either thank the Senator for their support or ask them to co-sponsor the bill. Everyone should be sure and add your personal message.

Resources:
NOW’s letter to the Senators: http://www.now.org/issues/economic/071018s1843update.pdf

NOW’s alert on the Senate Fair Pay Restoration Act: http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=10323036&type=CO

Myths and Facts about Fair Pay Restoration: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/Ledbetter%20Legislation%20Myths%20and%20Realities.pdf

For calling or emailing a senator who is not currently a sponsor or supporter of the Fair Pay Restoration Act, you can use:

I am calling as a constituent and a supporter of equal pay for women. I don’t understand why the Senator is not a sponsor and supporter of the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843). This legislation will give women workers their fair day in court by restoring civil rights law to its prior and longstanding interpretation. Without this important restoration, women workers will lose their ability to file suit for unequal pay if they fail to learn of and lodge a complaint about the disparity within 180 days of the FIRST discriminatory action or pay check.

The House has passed its version of S. 1843, known as the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831), and it is time for the Senate to correct the Supreme Court’s misinterpretation of Title VII regarding when a pay discrimination claim is filed on time.

Congress must not support employers who profit by paying women less and then hoping they don’t get caught right away. Employers who do NOT discriminate should support this bill. Senators who care about equal pay for their state’s working families should support this bill. I support this bill and I hope that you will, too. I look forward to hearing from you about this issue and will share your position about this bill with others in my community. Add your personal message as well.

CONTACT INFO (email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses)
Or Click to use Baucus’s Web contact form
Click to use Tester’s Web contact form