'Equal Pay Day' rally held at State Capitol
- Apr 10, 2018
- 2 min read
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) -- Protesters gathered on the front steps of the State Capitol, calling for men and women to get equal pay for equal work.
It was all part of Equal Pay Day, a day organizers say symbolizes how far women need to work into the year to make what men earned the year before. Approximately 100 people attended the rally in Michigan.
The message from the supporters and lawmakers in attendance, was "Equal pay makes cents."
"As a state representative, as a woman, as an employer, I know the best way for me to grow my business and for us in Michigan to grow our economy is to pay people what they're worth," Democratic State Representative Donna Lasinski, who represents Michigan's 52nd House District, said.
"We're working just as hard as our male counterparts, and we deserve to be paid just as much as our male counterparts," Dolores Porte said.
Numbers released by the michigan league for public policy show how wide the gap is in some areas. According to American Community Survey numbers taken between 2012 to 2015, the median wage for men in Michigan is about $50,000, while for women, it's around $38,000.
The gap is not as wide in Lansing, but Bloomfield hills near Detroit, the report finds men make nearly $100,000 more than women.
In every city listed in the report, men make more than women.
For Irma Glaser, the fight is personal. She said the company she worked for limited women's hours--under the guise of keeping them safe. And she said while progress has been made, more needs to be done. It's a fight she hope people will not give up.
"This has been going on for a long time. And, although we've made some end-roads, it's not enough," she said. "And I have to say coming here every year on equal pay day, the listening becomes less."
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