Rally for Equal Pay for Equal Work

The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania held an annual rally at Mellon Square in downtown Pittsburgh Tuesday in an effort to raise awareness about the inequalities in pay between men and women.

Women in the Pittsburgh region make 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. Black women earn even less - 64 cents per dollar. That is slightly higher than the national average.

About fifty people attended the rally and listened to speakers including Congressman Joe Sestak, officials from the city and county and performance poet Vanessa German. Elizabeth Waikman, Communications Coordinator at The Women and Girls Foundation said in the five years since the organization began holding the event, there have been improvements, with women making a bit more per dollar than they used to much of it the result of meetings with the city and the county.

In February, the Women and Girl's Foundation released a report: The Female Face of Poverty and Economic Insecurity: The Impact of the Recession on Women in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. According to the report, on average, women in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania earned more than $10,000 less than men in 2008.

Bar Assn. Takes on Wage Gap

Pennsylvania First Lady and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judge Marjorie Rendell says equality for women in the legal profession has come a long way since she was starting out but there is still a lot of work to be done. Rendell was speaking to members of the Allegheny County Bar association at a luncheon to launch the ACBA Institute for Gender Equality. She remembered back to her younger days when a judge remarked, “she should be a model,” when she introduced herself as the lawyer of the man standing next to her not his client. She also quipped about lying when accused of having a burping baby on her shoulder during a conference call. The institute will begin holding classes for both practitioners and law firm decision makers next month. The classes will focus on the advancement of women in leadership positions in the Allegheny County legal community, the elimination of the gender wage gap, and the expansion of the avenues through which female attorneys can build successful careers. Classes will also be held for law students. ACBA President-Elect Gary Hunt says attendees will be surprised what they learn about themselves while taking the class. Marjorie Rendell praised the ACBA for taking action and not just talking about the issue. She says, “The challenge is to identify what we need to do to reshape the institutions and I commend you for realizing that institutions cannot be reshaped without reshaping individual attitudes.” The formation of the Institute was one of the recommendations that came on the heals of a 2005 ACBA membership survey showed little or no improvement in gender equality when compared to a survey completed in 1990. A recent study found 20% of male lawyers in the county make $250,000 or more while just 5% of women hit that mark. Rendell says she doubts that most places where inequity exists the managers consciously decided women will get paid less. She says, “It just seems that the value put on a women’s work, even if it is ostensibly the same, is sometimes less.” The ACBA says 17.3% of partners in law firms nationwide are women but the number is just 15.8% in Allegheny County.

Pitt Hosts Gender Wage Gap Conference

The University of Pittsburgh hosted the Gender Wage Gap Conference today to discuss the latest research and responses to wage disparities. Pitt Law School Professor Deborah Brake says legislation is needed beyond the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act because there are still legal loopholes. She says fair, strong laws give employers the right incentives to examine proactively their own employment policies to make sure they don't discriminate.

Sabina Deitrick, a researcher at Pitt's Center for Social and Urban Research, says it's not just a matter of policy solutions either. Research shows some women have lower salary expectations to begin with and fail to negotiate effectively. Workshops and training could help with such behavioral issues.

According to Deitrick, the current recession is so far having more of an impact on traditionally male occupations, but stimulus projects will likewise help those professions like manufacturing and construction.

Allegheny Bar Association to Combat Gender Inequality

The Allegheny County Bar Association announced today the formation of the Institute of Gender Equality. The program comes as a result of a 2005 report on gender equality in the legal profession in the county that showed no improvement since 1990. The Institute will hold classes for legal employers and Duquesne University and University of Pittsburgh law students. President of the Allegheny County Bar Association Ken Gormley says that he hopes the institute will narrow the gap between men and women in the legal field, develop a list of "Best Practices" to continue to promote gender equality, and boost Allegheny County as the national frontrunner when it comes to tackling the issue. The Institute is set to begin classes in the first quarter of 2009. All members of the bar association are invited to attend.