9to5

Today, April 4, is Equal Pay Day, representing how far into the new year women on average have to work to earn what men earned in the previous calendar year. It’s an opportunity to call attention to the pay gap experienced by working women and people of color, and to commit to taking action to close the gap.

9to5 members and friends – Now is time to take action! Congress is voting this week and next on a bill that threatens to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA – Obamacare) and slash Medicaid, which together have reduced the number of uninsured Americans by many, many millions. Since the ACA became law on March 23, 2010, over 30 million have enrolled and more people in our country have health care coverage than ever.

International Women’s Day is getting more attention than usual in the U.S. this year. You can see it in the marches, rallies and strikes today, in the numbers of women at work wearing red, and in the diverse actions being taken nationwide for dignity, equality and respect.

Historically, this day was called International Working Women’s Day. Whether we balance two jobs just to (try to) pay the bills, take care of a sick parent, work a 9 to 5 job, or hold it down some other way, there are a million and one ways to be a working woman. Just as there are a million and one ways to fight what’s happening to all of us and move forward together toward justice.