Equal Rights Advocates Legal Director Jennifer Reisch has been tapped to appear as part of a panel on the subject tomorrow at the Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center in San Francisco.

The panel will delve into strategies to combat wage discrimination, retaliation, and unequal pay, including knowing how to see it and taking action to enforce the law. This is a great learning opportunity for both employment lawyers and community advocates.

For more on the panel discussion, as well as information on how to RSVP, click here.

“The gender wage gap can be measured in dollars and cents, millions upon millions of them over the course of woman’s working life. It cannot be explained away by rhetoric about women’s ‘choices’ to take lower paying jobs or leave the workforce. The law prohibits pay discrimination. It has for a long time,” she wrote.

In concert with a high-power coalition of women’s groups, Equal Rights Advocates has sent letters to all 50 governors today, the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, calling for their help in closing a pay gap that disproportionately punishes women of color and low wage-earners. For more on the Equal Pay Today! campaign, click here.

That number is up nearly 30 percent since 1960, showing a growing trend of women spending more time in the workplace.

About three-quarters of American adults say the increase in the number of working women has made it harder to raise children, according to Pew. Two-thirds of the households with breadwinning moms are also single parent households, which indicates that more women are shouldering the responsibilities of both parenting and working at the same time.

It’s more important than ever to support working parents. At Equal Rights Advocates, we’ve made the needs of working families a top priority, and have led a groundbreaking effort to end workplace discrimination against parents and caregivers. ERA is proud to co-sponsor California Senate Bill 404, which will add familial status to a list of protected characteristics under state employment and housing laws.

“The Pew study spotlights why ERA’s gender justice work is so critical for families. Equity in pay, fair opportunity for hire and advancement … these aren’t luxuries. We are talking about everyday survival,” said ERA Executive Director Noreen Farrell.

To support the growing group of women who are earning AND nurturing, click here and tell your state representative that you support SB 404. The families that rely on women breadwinners are also depending on their getting paid equally for equal work.  To find out how to join ERA’s Close the Gap campaign to fight pay discrimination, click here.

For more on the Pew study, including more information on increasing numbers of households run by single low-wage earners, click here.

Ms. Ledbetter is known nationwide for her groundbreaking sex discrimination case against her former employer, Goodyear Tire. The litigation inspired  the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law in 2009. Ms. Ledbetter is the author of Grace and Grit, a memoir of her struggle against pay discrimination. Ms. Ledbetter will be signing copies of the book after the luncheon.

Additionally, workers’ rights advocate Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC), will receive ERA’s Champion of Justice Award. Ms. Jayaraman, who in February published Behind the Kitchen Door: The People Who Make and Serve Your Food to rave reviews, is a tireless advocate of wage justice and fair treatment for low wage workers.

ERA has taken on the cause of pay equity in the halls of Congress, supporting the pending Paycheck Fairness Act, and in the courts.  ERA’s attorneys are among those representing plaintiffs in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., filed on behalf of a putative class of thousands of  women who work at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores in California. Later this month, plaintiffs will argue a motion to certify the class before Judge Charles Breyer in the Northern District of the U.S. District Court. Plaintiffs allege systemic discrimination against women in compensation and promotions at the two chains of stores.

This year’s luncheon theme, Close the Wage Gap, will focus on narrowing the disparity in pay between men and women across industries, as well as opening up access to jobs in traditionally male-dominated industries like science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  Learn more about ERA’s Close the Gap campaign at http://www.equalrights.org/era-launches-close-the-gap-campaign-for-equal-pay/.

“The gender wage gap infects women in every profession, age bracket, educational level, and income,” said ERA Executive Director Noreen Farrell.  “It results in women losing hundreds of thousands of dollars by the end of their professional lives.  ERA is committed to ending pay secrecy that keeps women in the dark about their wages and underpaid.”

More than 800 individuals, including prominent ERA supporters, attorneys, business leaders, civil and women’s rights advocates, and elected officials will be in attendance at this highly anticipated annual event. Sponsors include Wells Fargo, Hanson Bridgett LLP, Farella Braun + Martel LLP, and the Kazan McClain Satterley Lyons Greenwood & Oberman Foundation, and many more.

Funds raised from the Luncheon are vital to ERA’s work. This includes ERA’s hallmark precedent-setting litigation, legislative advocacy toward better protection of women’s rights, and the operation of a national toll-free Advice & Counseling Hotline, which receives more than a thousand calls annually from women and girls seeking legal assistance.

Sponsorships and tickets to the luncheon are available now. Please go to events.equalrights.org for more information.