Las Vegas, Nev. — Today, Thursday, October 21, marks Latina Equal Pay Day, the day into the year on which it takes for Latina women on average to earn what white men did in all of 2020.
To mark the day, Nevada AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer Susie Martinez released the statement below:
“Today, Latina Pay Day, is the last equal payday of the year. The disparity in pay that Latinas face every year, hurts not only these workers but also the families and communities they support. The labor movement can not rest while our sisters suffer and are denied equal pay for equal work.
My fellow Latinas have frequently been on the frontlines of the pandemic, risking their lives to serve our communities, all the while getting paid much less than their male counterparts. In my years within the labor movement here in Nevada, I have seen firsthand how a union contract is the single best tool we have to close racial and gender wage gaps that we see in our paychecks and our treatment on the job. I will never stop fighting for all workers across our state, and advocating for all of my union brothers and sisters to get paid what they’re owed!”
BACKGROUND:
More than 50 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Latinas typically earn only 57 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men and must work nearly 23 months to earn what white men earn in 12 months.
##