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Today might not jump out on the calendar as a significant date to most people, but today represents something important: how long, on average, it takes a woman’s salary to catch up to a man’s from the year before. It’s Equal Pay Day nationally, and D.C. and Colorado’s respective capitol hills are both honoring the date by highlighting today’s continuing wage gap struggle for women and minorities. Fifty-one years after President John G. Kennedy’s signed the Equal Pay Act, President Barack Obama plans to sign two executive orders to protect workers who discuss their pay from employer retaliation today. And in Colorado, 9to5, a national organization that fights for and protects minority workers rights, is putting on an all-day Equal Pay Day 2014 event in the capitol building.
If you happen to be downtown today, swing by the statehouse to check out a specially-curated indoor installation staking claim in the north foyer. Representations like Colorado salary checks, different types of groceries affordable to certain income brackets, and a timeline of salary increases through the past few decades, are all meant to illustrate the wage gap problem historically and currently. (Today, it’s reported that throughout a woman’s career, she misses out on $400,000, and even more for women of color.) The event isn’t just academic though: At noon, they’ll be a “Dolly Mob.” Yes, a Dolly Parton flash mob—which alone might be worth a trip down to the statehouse. Working a 9-to-5 yourself this Tuesday? Head to Govnr’s Park Tavern after work for a small presentation, drinks, and some relaxed banter with other equal-pay supporters. 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 200 E. Colfax Ave.
Follow digital assistant editor Jerilyn Forsythe on Twitter at @jlforsyt.
