By Tanu Henry | California Black Media
Diane
Shelton was proud of her professional life. For more than 25 years, she held steady
government jobs with the state Assembly as a legislative consultant, capitol
office director, legislative director and chief of staff for seven different Assembly
members, starting in 1984.
When
she got her first job with the Assembly, there were only 7 Blacks out of 120
members of the state legislature, and just a handful of African-American staffers.
During
that time, Shelton – who is African-American and lives just south of Sacramento
in Elk Grove – said she earned more than $30,000 less than her White
counterparts.
Then
in 2011, Shelton, who is now 62, became a trainer with the Capitol Institute, the
lower house’s professional development unit. That office operates under the supervision
of the Assembly Rules committee.
In
that new role, Shelton earned a salary of about $67,000. At the same time, the
Assembly paid a White male counterpart almost 40 percent more money than she
made: around $105,000. He had the same job title, comparable experience and
performed similar duties.
“I
loved my job as a trainer,” says Shelton. “I enjoyed using my skills to create
original training for an increasing number of new staff. However, after seven
stressful years of pursuing more equitable pay and watching decision makers
devalue my work, I reluctantly retired.”
Shelton
says when she asked her supervisor for pay on par with her peers, he responded
with only a 7.5 percent increase. After exhausting administrative options to
get an annual salary equal to her White male counterpart, in 2017, Shelton
decided to sue the State Assembly. She cited racial discrimination, unlawful
retaliation and violation of the California Fair Pay Act, among other claims.
She
is not alone.
Even
though California has the slimmest gender pay gap in the United States, on
average, women still earn about 89 percent of the total money men are paid in
the state, according to the California Commission on the Status of Women and
Girls (CCSWG).
That’s
about $.89 for every dollar men earn, which adds up to a loss of nearly $78.6
billion every year for women in the state.
For
Black women, the pay gap is wider and has a more deep-reaching impact on African-American
families across California. Black women – 80 percent of whom are the sole or
primary breadwinners in their households – earn only about $.61 for every
dollar a White, non-Hispanic man makes.
California
has the strongest equal pay laws in the country. Yet, women with masters degrees
working full time make only $.72 for every dollar men with masters degrees
earn.
“It’s
humiliating, its unjust and just plain wrong,” said first partner of
California, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, speaking at an event on Black Women Equal
Pay Day (August 22) in Sacramento. Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego),
chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, other lawmakers and guests joined the
governor’s life partner to bring attention to the issue.
In
April, Siebel Newsom announced that her office was partnering with the CCSWG,
California Labor Agency Secretary Julie Su and TIME’S UP, an organization
focused on fair, safe and dignified work for women. Together, the coalition launched
a statewide initiative called #EqualPayCA.
“We
all win when women win,” Siebel Newsom said. “Women are the backbone of our
families.”
In
2015, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the California Fair Pay Act. Sen.
Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) sponsored the bill she wrote to give
teeth to the state’s existing labor law, the California Equal Pay Act, which
was passed in 1949, first affording equal pay to women in the workplace.
Besides
requiring equal pay for men and women in “substantially similar jobs,” the new
ammendment included race and ethnicity, too; outlawed retaliation against
employees who complain about unfair pay; and allowed for equal pay salary
claims for the same kind of job – even when located in different places.
Since
then, California’s equal pay law has inspired similar legislation in 41other
states and Jackson is putting forth a new bill that will require organizations
with 100 employees or more to make annual salary reports to the state broken
down by gender, race and ethnicity.
In
California, where there remains a gaping wealth disparity between Blacks and
other racial groups, any equal pay effort that takes into account gender and
race takes on much greater significance. In 2014, in Los Angeles and Orange
counties, the median household net worth of US-born Whites was $355,000
compared to just $4,000 for US-born blacks, according to the California Budget
and Policy Center.
Last
week, Gov Newsom signed AB 467, also known as the “Equal Pay for Equal Play” bill,
into law. The measure, introduced by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Oceanside)
requires sports teams to pay women equal to men in all sporting competitions
held on state land in California.
Since
launching her equal pay campaign, Seibel Newsom says 27 California companies
have taken the equal pay pledge, including Gap, Intel and Cisco. And even though the state has a strong equal
pay law on the books, more work needs to be done.
“Its
about education, implementation and enforcement,” she says. “I applaud these businesses for stepping up and
doing their part to ensure pay equity within their companies, and I encourage
all other businesses in California to follow suit. Together, we can close the
pay gap and create a more equitable California for all.”
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