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What do you think of the equal-pay bill?

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deanhills
History was made today when Obama signed the equal-pay bill. Congratulations to those women in the United States who had fought so hard for it. The energy that must have been put into it, must be enormous. I like the way that the bill was named after one of the women who just about sacrificed her life in pursuit of its passing: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama

Now the interesting part starts as I wonder how many court cases were pending, awaiting the outcome of the signing of this bill. Must be a real milestone in US history of law. Also wonder whether it will be easy for newcomers to sue when so many jobs are currently being lost. Think the pendulum is swinging in the direction of large corporations having opportunity to lay off their workers again. Would be much easier to lay off what is labelled as "trouble makers" for those women that are being discriminated against in pay, and would have wanted to take their company to court, but probably would be fearful of losing their jobs in the current financial crisis. Crying or Very sad

What do you think of the new bill?
Xanatos
I think that people should be paid based on their abilities. Simple as that.

I don't think that everyone doing the same job should get paid the same amount. Some people do the job better than others and deserve to get paid for that. However, pay should not be hinged on race, religion etc.

On a side note... I wish that the american government, all people really, would stop all profiling by race etc. Every time a survey or something similar asks for your ethnicity I die a little inside. It is my opinion that producing statistics based on race perpetuates discriminatory feelings among people. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as black or white or brown and start thinking of ourselves as people.

My opinion is probably quite different from a lot of others though. I am a young white male who grew up in an area where my high school graduating class had 7 white students out of 400 and some. I'm used to being the minority. I don't really give a crap what color you are.

Anyways... Good for Obama signing the bill.

Rant over.
achowles
Xanatos pretty much nailed it on every count. I completely agree. While I have no problem with someone earning more doing the same job than someone less well qualified (and thus presumably less competent), qualifications and experience should be the only variables in determining how much someone should be paid.

Racial profiling along with all aspects of political correctness is something we could all do without. I don't like the idea of painting a smiley face over perceived problems. Especially when these problems begin and end with people's perceptions of these matters. It's far more productive to address these perceived problems and alter people's perceptions through doing so than to attempt to just sweep it all under the carpet and hope that nobody notices the bulge.
ocalhoun
Xanatos wrote:

On a side note... I wish that the american government, all people really, would stop all profiling by race etc. Every time a survey or something similar asks for your ethnicity I die a little inside.

Well, they should all be treated equally, but there are differences, and many of those differences are more than skin deep. Whether those differences make any race/gender/ethnicity/etc better than any other depends mainly on your definition of 'better'. But let me reiterate, even if some are better than others, even the 'worse' ones should be treated the same.
deanhills
ocalhoun wrote:
Xanatos wrote:

On a side note... I wish that the american government, all people really, would stop all profiling by race etc. Every time a survey or something similar asks for your ethnicity I die a little inside.

Well, they should all be treated equally, but there are differences, and many of those differences are more than skin deep. Whether those differences make any race/gender/ethnicity/etc better than any other depends mainly on your definition of 'better'. But let me reiterate, even if some are better than others, even the 'worse' ones should be treated the same.


Agreed. The ideal should be all according to their abilities, regardless of sex, race, etc. but certain large companies may have pay scales that are different for female and male. Now they are not allowed to do that any more. But perhaps it will become like Canada, where there are very strict rules and regulations against discrimination of sex, age, relgion, etc., and overtly these rules and regulations are being practised, but on a more subtle level there is still some discrimination, it is just done indirectly. The UK is the same.
Xanatos
deanhills wrote:
ocalhoun wrote:
Xanatos wrote:

On a side note... I wish that the american government, all people really, would stop all profiling by race etc. Every time a survey or something similar asks for your ethnicity I die a little inside.

Well, they should all be treated equally, but there are differences, and many of those differences are more than skin deep. Whether those differences make any race/gender/ethnicity/etc better than any other depends mainly on your definition of 'better'. But let me reiterate, even if some are better than others, even the 'worse' ones should be treated the same.


Agreed. The ideal should be all according to their abilities, regardless of sex, race, etc. but certain large companies may have pay scales that are different for female and male. Now they are not allowed to do that any more. But perhaps it will become like Canada, where there are very strict rules and regulations against discrimination of sex, age, relgion, etc., and overtly these rules and regulations are being practised, but on a more subtle level there is still some discrimination, it is just done indirectly. The UK is the same.


Everyone is a little bit prejudiced. No matter how hard you try you will always pre-judge people and even form opinions about them based on factors such as race, gender etc. The important thing is that we learn to try our hardest to not discriminate even with such judgements. I think that it is human nature to be prejudiced and it will never be eradicated completely. As I said though... we should all strive for a non-discriminatory world.
deanhills
Xanatos wrote:
Everyone is a little bit prejudiced. No matter how hard you try you will always pre-judge people and even form opinions about them based on factors such as race, gender etc. The important thing is that we learn to try our hardest to not discriminate even with such judgements. I think that it is human nature to be prejudiced and it will never be eradicated completely. As I said though... we should all strive for a non-discriminatory world.


Well said. That is exactly the way they do in Canada. Strive towards non-discrimation. The part about Canada that I admire the most.
Nameless
This thread was over the moment Xanatos first hit submit.
missdixy
I was so excited to hear about Obama signing this -- this was way overdue. Hooray for the new administration Smile
watersoul
Wow, i was suprised when i read this thread, it's taken until now for legislation to catch up with equality for gender in the US?
There will always be bosses at a local level finding ways for getting around the laws, but the laws being there in the first place are important to make it more difficult for these people.
I'm totally in agreement that you should only pay a wage based on ability, experience and qualifications alone - sadly the world doesnt always feel the same, so legislation is needed.

...on a side note, a local college where i live is offering government bursary's (money) to females chasing engineering/building/plumbing etc type courses as they are "under represented" in these trades.
Thats all cool, but when i asked the college last week out of curiosity, i found there are no bursery's available for males chasing careers in childcare/health & beauty/holistic therapy's where they are also under-represented...hmm i wonder why?!

...ooh and i never ever ever hear of equality lobby groups shouting about women being under-represented in the less favourable jobs like trash/bin/refuse collection, street cleaners etc - not a suprise really lol!

Equality is always the way forward and i'll always support anything thats truly "equal searching", but people are people and we'll probably never really get it in our society...never stop trying tho i say Smile
pipi
it's surely that man should be paid based on his contribute and his ability.
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