Contact: Philip Shulman, phils@wisdems.org
(MADISON, WI) — Today, on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler released the following statement:
“On equal pay day we recognize that despite the work of generations of activists to ensure equal rights, a black woman, on average, will make 61 cents on the dollar to a white man doing the same job. President Obama made great strides in correcting this injustice, signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, as well as numerous executive orders to create transparency in the workplace that would weed out this outrageous and discriminatory practice. While we did not reach full equality, we were headed in the right direction — and then came President Trump.
“Not only has President Trump done nothing to correct this injustice, he has tried rolling back the clock on the progress we have made. In 2017, he did everything in his power to remove the regulations that required companies to report how much they pay their employees by gender and race; fortunately, a judge ruled he could not do this. This is just another attack by Trump and his administration on women in Wisconsin and across our country.
“Fortunately, Democrats are leading the charge to eradicate workplace disparities and ensure that every worker, no matter their gender, race or identity, is paid a fair, living wage. And we’re not going to let Donald Trump stop us from achieving equity and inclusion for all.”