March 16 was Equal Pay Day!  Judy Murphy recommends a recent article in the 19th that provides the background on how the Equal Pay Day came about. “It’s Equal Pay Day and Here’s How the Pandemic is Making it Worse: https://19thnews.org/2021/03/equal-pay-day/   (Note: The 19th newsletter is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy)

Did you know that the AAUW Bennington Branch was actively involved in the passage of the Equal Pay Act in Vermont?  In fact, we were touted as an example of the kind of work individual branch members do to advance quality for women. See this article on the National AAUW website: https://ww3.aauw.org/article/lobbying-for-equal-pay-in-the-states/  The article spotlights testimony by then branch President, Julie Mackaman:

In her testimony, Mackaman relayed the story of how, back in 2013, AAUW members had organized a panel discussion on pay equity at a local college, where participants shared personal experiences with gender-based pay discrimination. “For the women on the panel, their prior salaries served an anchor chaining them to past inequities,” she told the lawmakers. “They all accepted, perhaps with gratitude, a salary that chained them to lower pay than their male counterparts and to a future in which their retirement benefits would be determined by their inadequate, discriminatory salaries throughout their working lives.

Learn about how AAUW members can be activists for various causes.  After visiting this site: https://www.aauw.org/act/ , consider sending an email to AAUWvt@gmail.com to let us know what struck you as useful information. We’ll  publish a list of recommendations in the next newsletter issue.

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