File #: Res 0829-2003    Version: * Name: Expand legal protections for victims of wage discrimination.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Consumer Affairs
On agenda: 4/30/2003
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on the New York State Senate to pass and Governor Pataki to sign S.4568 and S.2492, which would expand legal protections for victims of wage discrimination, and on the United States Congress to pass H.R.1688 and S.76, to improve remedies for victims of gender and race discrimination in the payment of wages and salaries.
Sponsors: Yvette D. Clarke, Diana Reyna, Hiram Monserrate, Margarita Lopez, Christine C. Quinn, David Yassky, Maria Baez, Charles Barron, Gale A. Brewer, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Lewis A. Fidler, Helen D. Foster, Robert Jackson, Melinda R. Katz, G. Oliver Koppell, John C. Liu, Miguel Martinez, Michael C. Nelson, Bill Perkins, Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, Helen Sears, Jose M. Serrano, Kendall Stewart, Albert Vann, David I. Weprin
Council Member Sponsors: 27
Res. No. 829 Title Resolution calling on the New York State Senate to pass and Governor Pataki to sign S.4568 and S.2492, which would expand legal protections for victims of wage discrimination, and on the United States Congress to pass H.R.1688 and S.76, to improve remedies for victims of gender and race discrimination in the payment of wages and salaries. Body By Council Members Clarke, Reyna, Monserrate, Lopez, Quinn, Yassky, Baez, Barron, Brewer, Comrie, Fidler, Foster, Jackson, Katz, Koppell, Liu, Martinez, Nelson, Perkins, Recchia, Sanders, Seabrook, Sears, Serrano, Stewart, Vann and Weprin Whereas, Nearly 40 years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, which made it unlawful for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work; and Whereas, While enforcement of the Equal Pay Act, along with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 have helped to narrow the wage gap, unequal pay remains a serious problem in American society; and Whereas, According to New York State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, in 2002, American women who worked full-time earned only 76 cents for every dollar earned by men; and Whereas, Comparative studies have demonstrated that the wage gap does not simply reflect women's career choices, as women who make the same career choices as men and work the same hours still earn less; and Whereas, In 1999, Texaco Inc. agreed to pay $3.1 million to 186 female employees who were found by the Department of Labor to be systematically underpaid relative to their male counterparts; and Whereas, The Paycheck Fairness Act of 2003, introduced by Senator Tom Daschle in the Senate and Representative Rosa DeLauro in the House of Representatives, would strengthen the Equal Pay Act, thereby protecting working women from discrimination in the payment of wages; and Whereas, The New York State Fair Pay Act of 2003, passed by the New York State Assembly, would help to ensure that pay differentiation is not based on a person's gender, race or national origin; and Whereas, Senators Guy Velella and Michael Balboni, respectively, have introduced S.4568 and S.2492, which would enact The New York State Fair Pay Act and make it a discriminatory practice to compensate employees of different sexes differently for work that is of comparable worth; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the City Council calls on the New York State Senate to pass and Governor Pataki to sign S.4568 and S.2492, which would expand legal protections for victims of wage discrimination, and on the United States Congress to pass H.R.1688 and S.76, to improve remedies for victims of gender and race discrimination in the payment of wages and salaries. JDS LS#2285 4/23/03 |1013|