Obama Helping Women Get Equal Pay in the Workplace

Equal pay for equal work is something we would all like to believe we have made progress on during the past 30 years. Yet, according to a statement in President Obama's agenda for women, "Despite decades of progress, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes."

In an effort to level the playing field, President Obama has signed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

This law helps workers sue their employers for the practice of unequal pay. It was named after Lilly Ledbetter, a woman who filed suit for pay discrimination against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1998.

While Ledbetter's case was initially defeated due to the 180 day statue of limitations in the Civil Rights act of 1964, in 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "the statute of limitations for presenting an equal-pay lawsuit begins at the date the pay was agreed upon, not at the date of the most recent paycheck, as a lower court had ruled."

The legislation had previously been blocked by former President George W. Bush, and was opposed by Republican members of Congress.

When the legislation came up for a vote in 2009, it was split along party lines in the House of Representatives at 247 to 171. The only 3 Republicans that supported the proposal were Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, Don Young of Alaska and Chris Smith of New Jersey. Travis Childers of Mississippi and Parker Griffith of Alabama were the sole Democrats who voted against it.

Whether or not the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act of 2009 can fully address the historic problems of equal pay for women is yet to be seen. However, it has made history as the first bill to amend the statutory limitations period of a 45 year old law, and the first bill signed by President Obama.