Dear Friends,
In 1979, a woman named in Lilly Ledbetter, the wife of an Army veteran and the mother of two daughters began work at a tire manufacturing plant in Alabama. She worked on the night shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. as a supervisor and was one of just a few female managers.
When she retired twenty years later, Lilly was making $599 a month less than the lowest paid male manager and $1509 a month less than highest paid male manager. Determined to right this wrong, she made her case in court, only to ultimately have a decision in her favor overturned by the Supreme Court.
One of the first votes I cast in 2009 was for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help close the income gap between women and men. One year ago, this bill was signed into law with Lilly present at the ceremony. It was a historic and moving day.
