REQUESTING THE LABOR DEPARTMENT TO GATHER COMPARATIVE STATISTICS ON THE RELATIVE WAGES AND COMPENSATION PAID TO MEN AND WOMEN FOR COMPARABLE WORK IN NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, thirty-five years after the federal Equal Pay Act was passed, women still receive less pay than men for performing comparable work; and

WHEREAS, the concept of pay equity based on equal pay for comparable work, which compares education, skills and responsibilities for each job, is not a part of New Mexico's law; and

WHEREAS, the average income of women in the United States is seventy-six cents for each dollar earned by men, women in New Mexico earn sixty-seven cents for each dollar earned by men, Latina women earn fifty-eight cents for each dollar earned by men and Native American women are not even counted; and

WHEREAS, women responding to the American federation of labor-congress of industrial organizations' working women survey ranked fair pay as their top priority for improving their work situation; and

WHEREAS, the average annual per capita income for a citizen of New Mexico is eighteen thousand eight hundred three dollars, which places New Mexico forty-eighth among the fifty states; and

WHEREAS, pay equity is really a family issue since equality of pay would raise family income;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the labor department be requested to gather and publish statistics on the relative wage and compensation rates for men and women performing comparable work in each occupation and profession in the state; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the labor department.