Pay Equity

By Nathan Hansen
Contributing Writer

Minnesota Representative Steve Drazkowski has authored his second bill that takes aim at Minnesota’s Pay Equity program, and the fourth bill authored so far this year by Republicans to eliminate it. It seems Republicans really have a bone to pick with people wanting to be paid fairly even if they are women. .

Of course, the Republicans and Drazkowski have a defense for their cutting of the program that finds and punishes cities and counties that pay women less money than men for the same jobs.  Drazkowski says that federal laws already make it illegal to pay workers differently depending on their sex, and so the program is redundant and a waste of taxpayer money. But as a public servant and lawmaker, he does not seem to have a decent knowledge of civics.

Speeding and underage drinking is also against the law, but unless you have cops, and make the cops look for people driving faster than legally allowed or underage drinking, it is pretty damn hard to punish and keep the people from violating the law.

You would think with all their screeching about ‘sanctuary cities’ that Republicans have a grasp of this fundamental aspect of lawmaking, but I guess not.

With this basic civics lesson out of the way, let us turn to the real reasoning behind the bill, that women don’t deserve equal pay for equal work. Now the Republicans and conservatives don’t say it this way, they talk about market based economics and other conservative buzzwords that translate roughly into: “If women make less than men than it’s their fault for not getting a better wage.” Basically it’s the same argument they use for poverty; poor people are poor by choice.

Without enforcement of equal pay laws, the only way for someone to make sure that they actually get paid the same wage regardless of gender is to file an open records request with the organization they work for, take a look at the wages they make compared to their coworkers, sue the city or county for discrimination, and then they get to keep what is left after their lawyer takes their share of the settlement.

With these kinds of hurdles and lack of returns for the effort put in, there is no way in hell that pay discrimination can be combated. Cities and counties that are flouting the law will continue to do so, and more may follow suit since getting caught and being punished is rare.

Drazkowski is one despicable human being. First he wants welfare recipients to prove that they are not junkies before they get welfare, intimidating and insulting the poorest among us. Now he has personally attacked women twice with his bills, and the Republican Party four times total.

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