Women, minorities speak out against pay gap

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Women and minorities on Monday, April 8th met in front of the Equal Rights Division to speak out against the pay gap between women and men.

In a statement, the group "9 to 5" said Equal Pay Day represents how far in 2013 women must work to earn the same wages that men earned in 2012. The group says the gap is even wider for women of color and minorities.

State Rep. Chris Sinicki (D - Milwaukee), sponsor of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act that is to be reintroduced this week in Madison, spoke at the event, along with WI State Senator Chris Larson (D - Milwaukee).

"Most of us women -- we are out there in the workforce. We are doing the same work that our male counterparts are doing and we are not being recognized and paid the way we should be paid," Rep. Sinicki said.

The group said in a statement: "We can’t make real progress in closing the wage gap until we strengthen enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws and give women the tools they need to get the pay they deserve. Strong enforcement of our equal pay laws is one important step to ending discrimination and closing the pay gap."

Analysis by the Institute for Women's Policy Research has shown that women in Wisconsin make 77 cents to a man's dollar.