The Straits Times
Obama vows to pursue fight for women's equality
WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama pledged on Saturday to continue the fight to help women get fair wages, escape poverty and compete in academic areas with higher earning potential such as math and engineering.
'At a time when folks across this country are struggling to make ends meet - and many families are just trying to get by on one paycheck after a job loss - it's a reminder that achieving equal pay for equal work isn't just a women's issue,' the president said in his weekly radio and online address. 'It's a family issue.'
Efforts are still continuing to address problems highlighted by a commission led by former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt almost 50 years ago that looked at the status of women and the unfairness they face.
Mr Obama noted that one of his first acts as president was to sign a law allowing women who've been discriminated against in their salaries to have their day in court. Mr Obama said he was disappointed when a bill to give women more power to stop pay disparities - the Paycheck Fairness Act - was blocked in the Senate.
'And that's why I'm going to keep up the fight to pass the reforms in that bill,' he said.
Senate Republicans succeeded in blocking the measure designed to reduce wage disparities between men and women. The effort to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act fell just short of the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican opposition. Republicans and business groups said the bill would expose employers to more litigation by removing limits on punitive and compensatory damage awards. The bill was one of the first measures passed by the House last year after Mr Obama was elected. -- AP
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_644705.html
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