On Thursday, April 10, Martha De La Rosa, State Director for 9to5 of Wisconsin, is presenting a webinar entitled "When Women Do Better, Wisconsin Does Better." You can sign up to attend the 7:00 PM presentation by clicking on this link: http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=EA53DE8889493D

But perhaps you think this issue isn't really very pressing. I beg to differ. As the Institute for Women's Policy Research reported In January, 2014,

About half of all workers (51 percent of women and 47 percent of men) report that the discussion of wage and salary information is either discouraged or prohibited and/or could lead to punishment. Most government agencies have formal grade and step systems that make general wage and salary information public (only 18 percent of women and 11 percent of men in the public sector report discouragement or prohibition of wage and salary discussions).

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the very first act President Obama signed into law, sought to make it easier for women to seek redress for wage discrimination in the federal courts.

Here in Wisconsin, however, our state government decided to go backwards and to make judicial redress HARDER. Here's Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson's brief account from April 2013:

Shocking the state, legislative Republicans rejected Wisconsin's tradition of fairness and rolled back equal protection laws for Wisconsin's working women by passing 2011 Wisconsin Act 219 last session. The adoption of this proposal eliminates equal protection laws for Wisconsin's women and limits their ability to seek justice for discrimination. This bill not only halted much needed steps towards equal pay for women, but also erased prior advances that have been made.

This issue affects everyone. Please join Grassroots North Shore and Marth De La Rosa, Thursday, April 10, 7:00 PM to learn how you can help make real progress in closing the pay gap. Register here: http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=EA53DE8889493D.