KITCHEN RALLIES FOR EQUAL PAY

          HARRISBURG, April 25 – State Sen. Shirley M. Kitchen today joined forces with fellow legislators and women’s organizations at this year’s Equal Pay Day rally at the state Capitol.

          “Women aren’t looking for special treatment or privileges,” said Kitchen (D-Philadelphia). “Women want wage equality. We want equal pay for equal work. We want professions like teaching and nursing – those traditionally dominated by women – to earn a fair wage. We want to see women be rewarded for their hard work and advance into upper management.”

          By April, a woman’s wages equals those earned by a male counterpart in the previous year.

          The Pennsylvania State Data Center and Pennsylvania Commission for Women recently released a report, “Closing the Earnings Gap in Pennsylvania 2006,” which found that, in this state, women only earn 74.5 percent of what men earn. Pennsylvania trails the national average, which is 76.2 percent.

          The only job categories where women’s earnings actually exceed men’s are the installation, maintenance, and repair fields (100.2 percent). Women also fare well in the construction and extraction occupations (90.0 percent). Among state workers, women only earn 77.2 percent of men’s wages.