Senator John McCain Believes Instead of Fair Pay, Women Need Training

Posted April 27th, 2008 by Susan Gunelius in Equality

All I can say is, “Wow.” Check out this info from MomsRising.org, a website dedicated to workplace discrimination issues:

Yesterday, the Senate failed to pass the Fair Pay Act, which would allow women to demand equal pay for equal work. Senator McCain (R-AZ), who didn’t even come to vote, said that instead of legislation allowing them to demand equal pay, women simply need “education and training.” Not only is his information wrong — women still are all too often paid less for the same work, even though they have the same education and training — he’s also sending a message to our nation, to our sons and daughters, that this pay gap is okay, and it’s women’s fault for being paid less.

So to send a message to Congress, and specifically Senator McCain, [women are signing] this petition for Fair Pay and sending Senator McCain their resumes — to show that women have plenty of education, what we need is Fair Pay. You should send yours too!

http://www.momsrising.org/fairpaymccain

Don’t worry if you don’t have your resume perfected — you can just write a quick note.Women now make up 58% of college graduates and nearly half of the labor force, but still earn less pay for the same work as men. Worse yet, mothers only make 73 cents to a man’s dollar, for the exact same job. College graduate, high school graduate, law school diploma, nursing degree, whatever your training; women should make equal pay for equal work. Don’t you agree?

Unbelievable. How could Senator McCain make such an ignorant comment? It’s incredibly insulting and demonstrates the problem quite clearly. Let’s try to make a difference by signing the online petition at MomsRising.org. You can also paste your resume or include a bio outlining your credentials along with your petition submission. If you can’t get the petition to submit with your resume pasted into the provided box, you can delete the resume text, and your petition submission should go through fine without it. Then you can email your resume separately to resumes@momsrising.org.

It just takes a second to sign the petition. Go do it now …. here’s the link again, http://www.momsrising.org/fairpaymccain.

Hat tip to Kristen King at BizChicksRule.com for this one!

You can read more about the Senate vote and John McCain’s comments in the following articles:

Republican Senators Block Pay Discrimination Measure (New York Times)

McCain Opposes Equal Pay Bill in Senate (Associated Press)

And I just wrote about the gender gap in pay on Women On Business: Women Make 77 Cents for Each Dollar Men Make in the U.S.

2 Responses to “Senator John McCain Believes Instead of Fair Pay, Women Need Training”

Peter Wells on June 30, 2008 9:17 pm
Sen. John McCain

Total paid employees during reporting period: 69

Total number of male paid employees during reporting period: 31

Total number of female employees during reporting period: 38

Average annual pay for all male employees: $32,347.72

Average annual pay for all female employees: $47,898.17

Total number of interns during reporting period: 23

Number of male interns: 15

Number of female interns: 8

Average annual pay for all interns: $6,422.40

Average annual pay for male interns: $6,448.12

Average annual pay for female interns: $6,374.17

Total number of non-intern paid employees: 46

Total number of male non-intern paid employees: 16

Total number of female non-intern paid employees: 30

Average annual pay for all male non-intern employees: $56,628.60

Average annual pay for all female non-intern employees: $58,971.24

Average annual pay for all (16) male employees earning more than $23,000 annually: $56,628.83

Average annual pay for all (30) female employees earning more than $23,000 annually: $59,104.51

Total number of employees paid more the $100,000 an annual basis: 5

Total number of female employees paid more than $100,000 on an annual basis: 3

Total number of male employees paid more than $100,000 on an annual basis: 2

Sen. Barack Obama

Total paid employees during reporting period: 67

Total number of male paid employees during reporting period: 36

Total number of female employees during reporting period: 31

Average annual pay for all male employees: $55,692.86

Average annual pay for all female employees: $48,729.91

Total number of interns during reporting period: 1

Number of male interns: 1

Number of female interns: 0

Average annual pay for all interns: $19,162.50

Average annual pay for male interns: N/A

Average annual pay for female interns: N/A

Total number of non-intern paid employees: 66

Total number of male non-intern paid employees: 35

Total number of female non-intern paid employees: 31

Average annual pay for all male non-intern employees: $56,736.58

Average annual pay for all female non-intern employees: $48,729.91

Average annual pay for all (33) male employees earning more than $23,000 annually: $59,207.63

Average annual pay for all (31) female employees earning more than $23,000 annually: $48,729.91

Total number of employees paid more the $100,000 an annual basis: 5

Total number of female employees paid more than $100,000 on an annual basis: 1

Total number of male employees paid more than $100,000 on an annual basis: 4
Susan Gunelius on June 30, 2008 9:43 pm
Thanks for sharing these statistics, Peter. Could you provide a link to the source for verification? I’m sure some people will question their authenticity (i.e., they seem just a bit too perfect).