Is it a case of a redundant law or is it a case of righting what I believe to be a serious wrong? The question before the House Labor Committee was should their be legislation that mandates equal pay for equal work among the genders. That House committee did not see a reason to push this legislation through for debate in the full house.

Alan Seabaugh who represents the Shreveport area was opposed to the bill on these grounds.

The law is already there, and I really don’t see a reason for this bill.

Representative Seabaugh is correct. There are many laws that mandate equal pay for equal work regardless of race, gender, religious back ground, or disability.  I can see his point.

However what I don't see is women earning as much as men who do the same or similar jobs. Louisiana has the biggest pay gap between genders in the nation. For example in the New Orleans area for every dollar a man earns doing a job a woman doing that same job is paid on average .44 cents less.

For the average working female, they are still struggling, and there is still unfair practices regarding pay equity between men and women.

Those are the words of Representative Helena Moreno who represents the New Orleans area. Her remarks to the Louisiana Radio Network highlighted the issues that many working women and single parents face.

I actually can understand and can see reasons to support both sides of this argument. My question is why does this happen? I know for every job I have taken in my working lifetime the compensation was negotiated. I don't know if this is a question of females settling for less compensation or employers not offering equal compensation.  I would also have an issue with any kind of government sticking its nose into how I choose to run my business.

I think pay discrimination is wrong on every level. I also believe that only you know what your time and talents are worth. The amount of compensation you agree to should be of your own choice and not mandated by some outside interest.  If you want to set your own salary then you should own your own business.

 

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