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AAUW Organization Focuses On Equal Pay Day Observance
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On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, people across the United States will observe Equal Pay Day, a national day of action to combat the gender pay gap. Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day when women’s earnings “catch up” to men’s earnings from the previous year. This means women on average have to work until April 4 just to take home what a man did in 2016.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is in dire need of an update in order to reflect America’s modern economy. Congress, by passing a new federal law, like the Paycheck Fairness Act, would help protect everyone in all states from unfair pay discrimination. In California real progress is being made to close the gender gap. However the pay gap, by congressional district from 2015 (the most recent data available), shows Stanislaus County ranks 31st and the gap in San Joaquin County, though slightly smaller, ranks 30th.

The American Association of University Women (AAUW), Oakdale Riverbank Escalon Branch, has worked to urge legislative action and public awareness to close the gender pay gap once and for all.

Another related and important topic is Title IX, the federal law passed in 1972, which bars sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funds. Compliance with Title IX will be the topic for the monthly membership meeting, to be held on Thursday, April 13, at 7 p.m. in Oakdale. Every school should have at least one employee who is responsible for coordinating the school’s compliance with Title IX. The guest speakers will be Julie Johnson, Stanislaus State’s Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Equal Opportunity and Compliance, and Ginger Johnson, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services for Modesto City Schools, who oversees all programs at the 34 school sites she supervises. Those attending the program will also learn how to take action to insure that each of our local schools has a Title IX coordinator and that these coordinators have the resources needed to understand the full scope of their jobs. For more information about the location of this meeting and AAUW membership opportunities, call 209-838-2495.

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Since 1881, AAUW has been one of the nation’s leading voices promoting education and equity for women and girls. AAUW has a nationwide network of more than 150,000 members and supporters, 1,000 branches, and 600 college/university institutional partners.

For more information about the local branch, log on to ore-ca.aauw.net, and for more information about the national organization AAUW, log on to www.aauw.org.