Equal Pay Day

Today, my campaign stands united with women throughout Pennsylvania and across the country for equal pay for equal work.

April 12 is Equal Pay Day because the average female worker would have to labor until April 12, 2016, to be paid as much as the typical man took home by Dec. 31, 2015, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity.

On average, women earn 79 cents for every dollar men earn in the U.S. This is obviously unfair and undercuts the dignity of millions of workers.

I find inspiration in women like my mom, Maria, who earned her high school diploma at the age of 65. Like my wife, Pam, millions of American women work full-time jobs while supporting children at home.

In 2014, men working in Pennsylvania earned $50,412 on average while women earned $39,905, according to the National Women’s Law Center. This disparity exists across the country despite passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination in the same establishment for jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.

What can you do? Contact your member of Congress, Rep. Ryan Costello (R-6th) and encourage him to support the Paycheck Fairness Act and the the Fair Pay Act. For more information, visit http://www.pay-equity.org/info-leg.html.

Join my campaign for uniting families for a stronger Pennsylvania. www.CiresiForPa.com

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Ciresi, a resident of Limerick with his wife and son, has served as a Spring-Ford Area School Board director for 10 years. For the last 14 years, he has worked as the Director of Sales and Promotions at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The 146th District includes the boroughs of Trappe, Royersford and part of Pottstown, as well as Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove and Perkiomen townships.