LETTER: Women under attack in Wisconsin

To the Editor:

If Wisconsin citizens didn’t have enough reasons to vote Scott Walker out of the governor’s office, they got another good one the other day, when our wonderful governor signed ACT 219. ACT 219 repealed a law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination (usually women) to have their day in court.

It’s a fact that Wisconsin women earn on average about 25 percent less per hour than men who perform the same jobs, even worse than the national average of 23 percent less than men. This is not just a wage issue, it’s a health issue too. Many women are single moms. By discriminating against women by paying lower wages, it becomes more difficult to buy health care for themselves and their children, and in many cases because these women are so poorly paid, they are forced to use state programs, such as BadgerCare.

ACT 219 is the finished product of Senate bill 202, which was first approved by the state Senate on a party line vote in November of 2011, and approved in the same way by the state Assembly in February of this year.

The bill was then sent to the governor on March 29. Scott Walker had a chance to do the right thing, and take care of the women of Wisconsin, but he chose to go along with the radical view of his party, a view that seem to cast women as second class citizens. His party feels that we women can’t make decisions about our bodies or our reproductive health. Now they seem to think we’re not worthy enough to have equal pay. What’s next governor? How about taking away our right to vote, or own property?

It’s about time the women of this state and country say “enough.” Walker and his type all across this country have sold their souls to a faction of the Republican Party that is controlled by big business and has no respect for women. It’s time to vote them all out now.

Sylvia Richard

New Richmond

Tags: letters to the editor, opinion