Whereas, Forty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to suffer the consequences
of inequitable pay differentials; and,
Whereas, According to U.S. Census data released in 2003, year-round, full-time
working women in 2002 earned only 77 percent of the earnings of year-round,
full-time working men, indicating little progress in pay equity since 1999;
and,
Whereas, The General Accounting Office reported women managers in seven of
ten industries surveyed lost ground in closing the wage gap between 1995 and
2000; and,
Whereas, The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics in 2001 reported women earn
less in every occupational classification for which data is available; and,
Whereas, According to the U.S. Department of Education, women faculty members
earn nearly nine percent less than their male counterparts; and,
Whereas, It is estimated that over a working lifetime, this wage disparity
costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $500,000 in lost
wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and,
Whereas, Fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future
retirement costs while enhancing the American economy; and,
Whereas, April 20, 2004 symbolizes the day on which the wages paid to American
women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year; and now therefore
be it,
Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan,
do here by proclaim April 20, 2004 as Equal Pay Day in Michigan.
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