A small victory? The new supreme court justice, man or woman, receives the same salary as the current justices. All justices receive the same pay. Only the chief justice receives a higher salary.

If only it could be so equal in other workplaces.

On average, women earn just 78 percent of what men earn. Statistics along with the evidence shows a significant gap between what employers pay women and men for comparable work. And, as more women work to support their families, equal pay is more than a matter of fairness; it's an issue of economic survival.

AAUW's recently released state-by-state comparison of wages found gross pay inequities across the board - for college graduates as well as for the general work force. In Montana, women college graduates age 25 and older make 77 percent of what their male counterparts earn, while women 16 and older make just 66 percent. This means that the typical woman must work from January 2008 through April 2009 to earn what her male counterpart received in 2008 alone. And it's even worse for women of color.

Equal Pay Act loopholes

Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, and yet women continue to earn less than their male colleagues. Why? Various loopholes that leave women without a recourse.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Jan. 29, is a big step toward righting the wrongs of pay disparity. For nearly 20 years Ledbetter was paid far less than her male co-workers with the same job. She fought for another 10 years to expose unfair pay practices. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restored the long-standing interpretation of civil rights laws and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policies allowing workers to challenge their discriminatory pay checks.

So what is left to be done? Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act creates stronger incentives for employers to follow the law, empowers women to negotiate for equal pay, and strengthens federal outreach, education and enforcement efforts. Together with the Ledbetter law, this critical piece of legislation can help create a climate where pay discrimination is not tolerated and gives the administration the enforcement tools it needs to make real progress on pay equity. It would also prohibit retaliation against workers who inquire about their employers' wage practices or disclose their own wage.

Senate decision

The House passed both the Ledbetter Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act earlier this year. Now it's time for the Senate to do the same. We need the support of Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester for Senate Bill 182.

With a record 71 million women now working, wage discrimination hurts the majority of American families, both their economic security today and their retirement security tomorrow.

In these difficult economic times, an unprecedented number of women are now their families' sole breadwinners, making pay equity even more necessary to family financial security and the nation's economic recovery.

As Lilly Ledbetter stated, the passage of the Ledbetter Act without the Paycheck Fairness Act "is like giving someone a nail, but not a hammer."

I encourage all hardworking residents of Montana - especially women - to ask Sens. Baucus and Tester to vote to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Yes, it's a matter of fairness to all Montana families.

And, it's smart economic policy for Montana and for the country.

Susan Lubbers of Billings is public policy chair for the American Association of University Women of Montana.