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National Labor Union Backs Equal Pay for Equal Work
The National Labor Union, one of the
nation’s first organized labor advocacy
groups, pushes for equal pay for equal
work, the concept that a woman must be
paid the same as a man for doing the same
or equivalent job with the same qualifications. -
Period: to
Economics
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Congress Requires Federal Equal Pay for Equal Work
A federal law that grants female federal
employees equal pay for equal work is enacted. This right was not extended to the
majority of female employees who work
for private companies or state and local governments until the adoption of the
Equal Pay Act in 1963. -
Women’s Trade Union League Is Established
This national labor group is created to
unionize working women and advocate for
improved wages and working conditions
for women. Its leaders will go on to form
the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union -
Equal Pay Act Becomes Federal Law
First proposed 20 years earlier, the law
says employers must give equal pay for
men and women performing the same job
duties regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker. -
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Signed Into Law
The federal law expands workers’ right to sue
for pay discrimination and relaxes the statute of
limitations on such suits. Ledbetter had sued her
employer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., when
she neared retirement and learned that she was
paid much less than her male colleagues. But the
Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she
should have filed her suit within 180 days of the
date that Goodyear first paid her less than her
peers. Courts repeatedly had cited the decision as