Equal Pay for Equal Work

Dotty

I’m furious and I don’t know what to do.

You know my co-worker Russ, we share a cubical, I wrote about him in my book On the Spin Cycle. We’re best friends, but today I’m mad at him… and It’s not necessarily his fault. You see, Russ and I work side-by-side; we do the same work with the same job title, but I just found out he makes more money than me!

I know him better than anyone. Did you know he chews gum all day? I wouldn’t dare look under his desk. Sometimes he even chews tobacco, and spits it into a McDonald’s cup when he thinks no one is looking. Russ and I are great friends, and I’m always helping him out of a bind. And that’s how I thought teams work…

I was wrong. He is making twenty percent more than me. And why?!

For immediate retaliation, I think I’ll put a tack on his chair… Then I’ll e-mail Sandy. She’ll know what to do.

Sandy (Dotty’s Therapist)

My client, Ms X, is infuriated. She just found out her male co-worker is making more than she is for equal time/equal work. I better e-mail her before she does something she’ll regret.

There is right and wrong way to handle problems, and when we lash out in anger we make a small problem bigger.

It’s sad, but workingwomen today make an average 78% of what men make in the same position—despite The Equal Pay Act of 1963.

And it is also true that people break laws when we don’t hold them accountable. I’m going to e-mail Ms. X and advise her to follow the link below so that she can understand the issue more thoroughly.

http://www.now.org/issues/economic/factsheet.html

Asking for a raise can be tricky too, so I’ll send her here:

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/negotiatingoffers/a/raise.htm

And it can’t hurt to send a letter to her congressman and the president:

http://www.usa.gov/contact/elected.shtml

Pockets

I’m pumped! Dotty is going to write her congressman and the president asking them to enforce the Equal Pay Act of 1963! She keeps things exciting around here! I sure hope she gets a raise—maybe then she’ll let me eat the leftovers. YUM!

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Tagged as: ABC gum, equal pay, equal pay act, womens rights