Comments on: Take It—The 2008 Ask a Working Woman Survey

By: rainlion

rainlion — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:58:30 +0000

Great article and concept (survey) - but let’s face facts, unless you include/consider all who are being underpaid for equivalent work… then it’s only partially legitimate.

I’m male, but I’m african american and I know I make10-20 percent less than my white male counterparts (even those w/ less experience) - and over the course of several decades I can not escape the fact that it’s racial discrimination… just as gender discrimination is at the root of the pay disparity among women.

Just a thought… and no, I’m not saying “Whaaaaaaa, but I’m more oppressed” - just pointing out that if we as a nation are going to address and redress issues of inequality we have to help everyone at once, rather than piecemeal.

By: christine

christine — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:56:09 +0000

I also think the disparity can depend upon who the employer is. Private vs public. I technically work for the State. My base salary is published every year, along with every other State employee. In my department, the pay grades(job classification) and ranges of salaries within the pay grade can vary a bit. There is one guy that was hired two weeks before me. I make 1k more than he does. There is another guy that was hired 18 mos before me and his salary is 9k more than mine. All three of us are in the same job classification. Around three years ago, I was making about 2k more than a guy that had been here 12-15 years longer than I had been. But, then again, no-one really liked him (and wasn’t really performing) and couldn’t figure out how to get rid of him.

By: mui1

mui1 — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:35:10 +0000

Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, told a congressional committee last month there are millions of workers eligible to use FMLA but don’t because they can’t afford to take unpaid time off, especially low-wage workers.

Exactly, or they never heard of it.

By: mui1

mui1 — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:27:23 +0000

I’d love for male employers to be put in the woman’s place and know what it feels like to have to stay up around the clock for feedings and diaper changes those first few months and have to worry about health problems when the children are born premature etc.

By: mui1

mui1 — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:25:38 +0000

Tula! excellant. Bring on the women that rock the status quo. I have watched fellow workers who don’t have paid maternity leave. It’s sad and it’s sucks.

By: unionmaidn

unionmaidn — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:25:05 +0000

This may seem obvious, but I have to say that unionized jobs with contracts pay standardized rates–that is, equal pay–for equal work performed, regardless of the worker’s sex, ethnicity, race, age, creed or political affiliation (ahem).
I believe we desperately need national legislation mandating equal pay for men and women to cover all non-union and managerial positions, but joining a union and negotiating a contract are the best tools working folks have to achieve equal pay now.

By: Nannyberry

Nannyberry — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:51:00 +0000

I noticed early on that men moved up the ladder awfully fast, too. By the time male nurses were showing up in the rural south, they wel already department heads, etc.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:44:21 +0000

Yep, whenever a guy does it, it immediately gets upgraded.

By: karennussbaum

karennussbaum — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:40:45 +0000

I worked as an office worker and organized office workers for years. We always felt that when a man came into our workforce, the boss would look at him and say, “now, that guy has management potential.”

I think you’re right. Men who are in “women’s” jobs are looked at differently.

By: Margot

Margot — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:27:11 +0000

I don’t understand it either, but it happens.
I worked in a local hospital for 10 years and I heard female nurses talking about finding out that male nurses made more than they did.
I think the male nurses were seen in a different light.
I’ve read in nursing journals about this since the 80s. Infuriating.