Wearing Red And Seeing Red—Small Steps And Larger Issues on Equal Pay Day

Yes, it is Equal Pay Day.  April 28, 2009 marks the day when the average woman has finally been paid for the work that the average man did and was paid for in 2008.  What he made in 12 months, she made in 16.  Four additional months! Pretty unbelievable.  Well, believe it because it is true.

And if you think it is limited to one segment of workers, you are in for another surprise.  Even those of us who have an additional 12 to 15 years of schooling and training beyond high school are paid 20-30% less than our male counterparts even when we account for all the other variables, e.g. hours worked, patients seen, level of training, efficiency, etc.  So much for your assertion about equal pay will occur “when women have the same education,” Senator McCain.  (Told to me by Lilly Ledbetter during her conversation with McCain on the campaign trail).

The color red is the official color of Equal Pay Day.  Show your support.  Wear a red ribbon (or a dollar bill) on your lapel.  So everyone who is outraged (sees red) is going to don a red ribbon (wear red).  The red also symbolizes the deficit (being in the red) that women accrue as they work longer and harder to earn the same income as a man would in their work.  Failure to recognize this problem and create bold and dramatic solutions should make our elected government officials also turn red, from embarrassment.

But it would be unfair of me on Equal Pay Day if I did not point out that we do have another piece of legislation pending that will improve the situation and make it “easier” for the woman to go up against her more powerful and stronger employer to prove her claims.  That is if she doesn’t mind losing her job, experiencing retaliation, or having to moving to another city.  This is the Paycheck Fairness Act.  And even though it does not take this process as far as I believe it needs to go, it is an important step.  So let’s take it and run.  Go to http://action.nwlc.org/paycheckfairness and tell your Senators that passage of this bill in the Senate is in everyone’s best interest.  (It has already passed the House).

As a surgeon, red is a danger sign—excessive bleeding, an infected wound or a nasty laceration. So when I see red, I see danger.  And I believe that unequal pay, amongst the many types of gender discrimination that women physicians face, is unhealthy for our patients and bad for our nation’s healthcare system.  So wear red, see red and recognize the dangers ahead if we do not include an end to gender discrimination for women physicians as part of overall healthcare reform.