Media Advisory - April 9th - Celebrating 30 Years of Pay Equity In Minnesota

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/3/2013 EQUAL PAY DAY

Tuesday, April 9 is Equal Pay Day nationally, when the average woman’s wages finally catch up to the average man’s wages in the previous year.

Minnesota will celebrate its leadership on this issue, because state-employed women have now received equal pay for 30 years.

WHAT: Proclamation of Pay Equity Day.

Press conference & party celebrating 30 years since implementation of the State Employees Pay Equity Act of 1982 (M.S. 43A.01).

WHEN/WHERE:

9:00 – 10:00 AM

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Governor’s Reception Room, State Capitol, St Paul

WHO: Hosted by the Pay Equity Coalition of Minnesota and 12 co-sponsoring groups.

Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon will present the proclamation.

Remarks by: Nina Rothchild, Director of the Council on the Economic Status of Women (1976-1982) and Commissioner of the Department of Employee Relations (1983-1990), and

Eliot Seide, Executive Director, AFSCME Council 5, Regional Director of AFSCME (1980-1988).

Elected officials and others instrumental in passage and implementation will attend.

WHY: April 9 is Equal Pay Day nationally, when the average woman’s wages finally catch up to the average man’s wages in the previous year. But in Minnesota state government employment, pay equity has been a reality for 30 years.

Rothchild and Seide will speak to the historic, bipartisan, and ongoing work which have ensured Minnesota’s leadership.

KEY FACTS: In the general workforce, American women employed full-time and year round earned on average 77 cents for each dollar earned by their male counterparts in 2011.

Women in the general Minnesota workforce are doing slightly better, at 80 cents on the dollar. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey data.)

The State of Minnesota had about 33,000 employees in the executive branch in 2011, and just under half (49.7%) are women (Executive Branch Workforce Profile, Minnesota Management & Budget). Recent research shows that state-employed women now earn a dollar for every dollar men earn for comparable work in state service.

Available for interviews before the April 9 event:

Nina Rothchild, hvalj@aol.com or 651/426-2535
Eliot Seide - contact Jennifer.munt@afscmemn.org or 651-287-0575
Patty Tanji of PECOM, ptanji1@gmail.com or 651-271-1462