Stop Wal-Mart From Discriminating Against Women

LINDA MERIC and MARY HENDERSON

Ten years after Betty Dukes and other women workers first brought their claims of sex discrimination in pay and promotions against Wal-Mart, their case will go before the Supreme Court on March 29. 1.6 million women currently and formerly employed at Wal-Mart will be affected by the Court’s determination on whether Wal-Mart’s female employees can join together as a class, to challenge company-wide discrimination. The fair-minded among us will agree that Dukes v. Wal-Mart should be a class action case.

These patterns of discrimination catalogued in the lawsuit are exemplified in the experience of Mary, a 9to5 member and former Wal-Mart worker, who questioned why she was paid thousands of dollars less than a man with less education and the same seniority in the same position. Mary’s daughter, also a Wal-Mart employee, applied for a supervisory job that ended up going to a man because “he had a family to support” – even though she was supporting her family, as well. When Mary inquired about this, she was punished with transfer to a store requiring an hours-long commute.

The case contains thousands of pages of disturbing evidence documenting pervasive gender stereotypes, statistical pay and promotion disparities, and policies that allowed those stereotypes to negatively influence employment decisions affecting women throughout the company. A few examples:

Gender Stereotypes. The documents reveal an ingrained corporate culture that views women as inferior to men, and not interested in career advancement. Among the hundreds of statements detailed in Court documents is a manager telling one employee, “Men are here to make a career and women aren’t. Retail is for housewives who just need to earn extra money.” Another male manager declared, “Women should be home, barefoot and pregnant” – and NOT as a bad joke.

Pay Disparities. The women at Wal-Mart earned less than men, even after accounting for seniority, turnover and performance. In fact, the women had higher performance ratings and more years of employment on average, yet made 5% to 15% less: an average of $5,000 per year less than comparable men.

Promotion Problems. Women received fewer promotional opportunities for in-store management positions, and had to wait longer for the promotions they did receive.

Hiding Discrimination. Despite Wal-Mart's policy prohibiting employees from discussing pay, women discovered they were regularly paid less than male counterparts. A female assistant manager discovered that a less-experienced male assistant manager earned $10,000/year more than she did when someone gave her his misplaced W2. One woman realized that she earned less because “many male associates [at her store] brag[ged] about their pay.”

Retaliation for Complaints. Although Wal-Mart’s “Open Door” policy supposedly allowed employees to air complaints, in reality it “was a façade and resulted only in retaliation,” according to one employee. Another reported that a Wal-Mart Home Office representative told female employees who made complaints of sex and race discrimination, “I can fire you, without taking any steps, for using the [O]pen [D]oor [policy].”

Wal-Mart has long been fueling a race to the bottom through its low standards of wages, benefits and working conditions. The company has been found guilty of numerous wage and hour and overtime violations, unfair labor practices, and absenteeism policies that punish workers for using their paid sick days. This lawsuit could put the brakes on; sending the message to all employers that illegal wage discrimination won’t be tolerated, even if you are the nation’s largest employer.

Evidence strongly suggests that sex discrimination is rampant at Wal-Mart. It can be stopped by a class action resolution to address the company-wide problem. This case will educate the public about employer responsibilities and employee rights in the workplace. All companies, including Wal-Mart, must be fair to all employees – men and women alike.

Linda Meric is the Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women, a national membership-based organization of low-income women working to improve policies on issues that directly affect them.

Mary Henderson of Canon City, Colorado is a former Wal-Mart assistant manager who is fighting for a better tomorrow for her daughters and 12 granddaughters.

Two Million Americans Are Waiting ...

The news of the day centers on whether Congress will extend unemployment insurance benefits to the millions of American workers who are out of a job -- or if it will only do so if in a compromise agreement to pass tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Basically today's reports from Capitol Hill tell us that unemployed workers are being held hostage. Meanwhile, there are children to care for, mortgages and rent to be paiid, a holiday season upon us. Congress might be reminded of what it should do by this op-ed from 9to5 National Director Linda Meric. It must think like struggling families -- and extend unemployment benefits to jobless workers NOW!

Here is a link to the version of Meric's op-ed that appeared, appropriately, in the Baltimore AFRO, just 30 or so miles from the nation's Capitol.

http://www.afro.com/sections/opinion/story.htm?storyid=3338

Lame Duck Congress: Help American Families Today, Don’t Let Unemployment Benefits Expire

by Linda A. Meric

There was good news for our flailing economy from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month. More than 150,000 jobs were added in the United States in October and private sector payrolls grew by 159,000.

But there was some news that didn’t change: unemployment held steady at 9.6 percent. Almost 15 million Americans are out of work and more than 41 percent of them have been unemployed for six months or more. So, adding 150,000 jobs, while a good sign, is still just a drop in the economic bucket.

With job growth still sluggish, and with so many people out of work, it’s critical that unemployment benefits not be allowed to expire. President Obama has even expressed his support for this important step, saying “I think it makes sense for us to extend unemployment insurance because there are still a lot of folks out there hurting.”

But the President obviously can’t do it alone. This is a job for the lame duck Congress, returning to the hill this week – and partisan politics should not get in the way.

Emergency unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of this month. If no extension is approved, two million American workers will lose their unemployment benefits – and more importantly lose their lifeline to economic security for themselves and their families – just in time for the holidays.

“The current expiration date will cause a cascade of unemployed workers to fall off the unemployment rolls, prematurely cutting benefits for some and making any form of an extension completely unavailable for others,” according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP). Plus, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted, there are still far more unemployed workers than there are job openings.

This is worth noting, too: An extension of benefits does not mean that workers who have completely exhausted their benefits will get even one penny more. It only means that those who are currently receiving UI benefits will not get cut off mid stream.

It means that working women – who face staggering unemployment at the same time that women are now the primary or co-breadwinner in more than 2/3 of American families – will be able to provide for their families; to make ends meet. Really, every dollar provided in UI benefits for struggling families pumps two dollars back into our economy because they have so many needs. These aren’t dollars that get stored up somewhere for savings. These are dollars that are needed and spent right now; for food, for clothing, for rent, for utilities – to keep the lights on and the furnace going.

The lame duck Congress can’t leave American families out in the cold this holiday season.

It doesn’t have much time. It must extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits and do so quickly.

America’s families are waiting.

Meric is Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women

Congress Must Pass PFA & Other Critical Legislation

With the House and Senate expected to reconvene on November 15th, this will be the last opportunity for the 111^thCongress to pass legislation deemed imperative by the coalition of more than 200 national civil and human rights organizations.

Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act and the DREAM Act, a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” an extension of unemployment insurance, and the confirmation of President Obama’s judicial nominees have been identified as top priorities for the final months of 2010. Also, critically important is a Senate vote on the ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Here's what Wade Henderson, President & CEO of The Leadership Conference, has to say about these final months and lame duck priorities: “Now that the midterm elections are over, Americans expect Congress to work together on the important needs of our country..Each of these priorities will make our nation stronger and more just, and they deserve to be high on the list of ‘must-do’ legislation before the current Congress adjourns.”

As a member of the LCCR coalition of 200 organizations, 9to5 agrees with these priorities:

• Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act would deter pay discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations. “This Congress showed some remarkable backbone for women’s equality when it passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference. “Passing this legislation would reinforce this Congress’ commitment to narrowing the pay gap to help support family incomes and strengthen our economy.”
• An extension of unemployment insurance, which is set expire at the end of this month, would provide a lifeline for millions of workers in the stalled economy. “Congress has never cut off unemployment benefits when the jobless rate was this high. Extending them will help the economy recover while providing badly needed assistance to workers unable to find jobs,” Henderson said.
• Passage of the DREAM Act, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged to bring up for a vote during the lame duck session, would allow immigrant youths the opportunity to serve in our military, attend college, and earn citizenship. “The DREAM Act will help ensure that children who have worked hard, graduated from high school, and obeyed the law have the opportunity to be productive workers in the American economy,” Zirkin said.
• The repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell,” which has been under consideration for several months, would strengthen our military and advance LGBT equality. “Our service members should not have to live in fear of dismissal simply for being gay or lesbian. In the face of two wars and dwindling recruitment, our military needs our best and brightest citizens to serve regardless of their race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation,” Henderson said.
• The confirmation of pending judicial nominees who have faced a level of obstructionism that is unprecedented in American history. “People all over America are being denied justice because our overworked courts have more than 100 empty benches without judges to hear cases,” Zirkin said. “The Senate must put aside petty partisanship, eliminate obstructionist tactics, and commit to taking yes-or-no confirmation votes on the pending judicial nominees before adjourning.”
• Ratification of CEDAW, a landmark international agreement that affirms principles of fundamental human rights and equality for women around the world. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law has scheduled a hearing on the CEDAW treaty on November 18. “Ratifying the CEDAW treaty would continue America’s proud bipartisan tradition of promoting and protecting human rights,” said June Zeitlin, CEDAW Project director.

Write or call your members of Congress and ensure they know that these priorities are YOUR priorities.

Report Surveys Economic Landscape for Women

This might not seem like the Year of the Woman – especially if you peak into the pockets and purses of working women and especially if you consider the fact that we are still waiting for the U.S. Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

But if things seem grim, consider this: The White House has recently released a report, “Jobs and Economic Security for America’s Women,” written by the National Economic Council. The report gives us a lay of the land; tells us exactly how these tough economic times have affected women and our families and provides some next steps for us from the Obama Administration.

First of all, the bottom-line – women are pivotal to the economic recovery of this country.

“The economy has changed where women have made such enormous strides that they now constitute fully half of the workforce,” President Obama said in remarks accompanying the release of the report. “They actually constitute probably more than half of the money that’s coming in to middle-class families. And business—small business owners are now a much higher proportion women than they used to be. And so when you talk about what’s happened to the middle class, part of what you’re talking about is what’s happening to women in the workforce."

For one thing, as the Center for American Progress has told us, women are now the primary breadwinner or co-breadwinner in two thirds of American households. As of December 2009, 2.1 million women whose husbands were unemployed were working as the primary revenue earners for their families and 6.1 million single mothers are the sole providers for their households. Additionally, women own 30 percent or 7.8 million American small businesses that generated sales of over $1.2 trillion in 2007—an increase of 46 percent since 1997—and created roughly 500,000 jobs in those 10 years.

But all is not good for women workers.

Of the jobs that are being lost, more of them are occupied by women than by men. Women who are employed still face a wage gap, earning only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man – and for women of color the gap is even wider. There is still a glass ceiling in many sectors of the economy, especially in the highest earning professions. And, many women still have to make choices that place their economic security at jeopardy; choices like whether to go to work or stay home and care for an ill child because of the lack of paid sick days.

Year of the Woman – that remains to be seen.

Read the report for yourself.

And there’s something else you can do. Be sure to contact your U.S. Senators and let them know that the Senate must make a priority of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act before this year ends. For more info, visit www.9to5.org.

Women and our families just can’t wait any longer to win economic justice.

The Cost of Being Sick

As we prepare for 9to5's National Day of Action -- Healthy Workplaces: Paid Sick Days Now, we consider this question ... What is the real cost of being sick for working women and particularly for low-wage working women.

The writer of this column provides some answers.

After you're done reading this, don't forget to contact Asha Leong at asha@9to5.org to start planning YOUR event for the National Day of Action.

It really is true -- no worker should have to choose between the job she needs and the family she loves.

The Cost of Being Sick

Published August 14, 2010 by:

Leigh Ann Conselyea
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5682272/the_cost_of_being_sick.html?cat=31

How much does it cost to be sick these days? If you've ever gone to work and found one or more of your co-workers sneezing, coughing, and sniffling all day, you may have wondered why they were even there in the first place. Admit it...those thoughts run through your mind as you overdose on hand sanitizer and try to stay as far away from them as possible.

The fact of the matter is that for many Americans, staying home while sick is a luxury they cannot afford. Too many people in this country do not have enough paid sick time each year. This problem doesn't just affect working professionals however. In an article by James Warren for Bloomberg Business Week, a second-grade school teacher, Stilli Klikizos talks about the many sick children that must stay in school all day long because their parents can't get off work to come get them.

There is a bill currently in Congress called the Healthy Families Act that, if passed, would change things for many Americans. The Healthy Families Act would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide 7 paid sick days a year for their workers. These days could be used not only for days when the worker is sick, but the time can also be used when caring for others, or going to routine doctor's appointments.

Advocates of the bill argue that we cannot afford to not take these measures. When people come to work sick, they are possibly infecting clients, co-workers, and customers. In the case of restaurant or daycare workers, their illness has the potential to affect the health of many. In a 2006 survey, conducted by the Center on Work Life Law at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law, 1 in 6 workers said they or a family member had been fired, suspended, punished or threatened by an employer for taking time off to care for themselves or a family member when ill. The Healthy Families Act is intended to alleviate some of the work/family conflicts that employees today often face.

Critics of the bill argue that too many businesses are already struggling to make ends meet right now, and that this is the wrong time to force yet another government mandated expense.

Recession hits women, especially Single Moms, hard

The news from Legal Momentum isn't good this week but reminds us that we must keep pushing toward economic justice for women and their families. Read the summary of a new report on the recession and single mother employment below. -- Linda Meric

The Impact of the Recession on Single Mother Employment:

Already High Unemployment Jumps Even Higher and More Single Mothers Reduced to Part-time Work

Single mothers have consistently experienced a far higher rate of unemployment than the population as a whole, and this pattern has continued during the economic downturn that began in December 2007. In 2007, the average monthly unemployment rate was 8.0 for single mothers compared to 4.6 for the population as a whole.

In 2009, the unemployment rate was 13.6 for single mothers compared to 9.3 for the population as a whole. The single mother unemployment rate may have grown even higher than 13.6 in 2010. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will not publish the single mother unemployment statistic until the year is over, BLS does publish on a monthly basis the unemployment rate for “women who maintain families,” about two-thirds of whom are single mothers.

The average monthly unemployment rate for women who maintain families was 11.9 in the first seven months of 2010, compared to 11.5 in 2009.

The economic downturn has also led to an increase in the fraction of employed single mothers who work only part-time from 18% in 2007 to 22% in 2009. (August 2010)

(For further information, contact Timothy Casey, Senior Staff Attorney, tcasey@legalmomentum.org)