FOLLOW US

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife is pushing for equal pay for women to close the gender wage gap in the state.

On Monday, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who chose to use the title “First Partner” instead of “First Lady,” announced EqualPay CA, a campaign to help close the gender wage gap.

The Office of the First Partner collaborated with the California Labor Secretary Julie Su, the California Commission in the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG) , and Times Up in launching te campaign.

The group is promoting new resources from the CCSWG’s Pay Equity Task Force  to educate employers, employees, and labor unions on how to close the pay. It is encouraging employers to comply with the California Fair Pay Act, which was designed to eliminate the gender wage gap in the state.

In a statement, the First Partner said, “California has the the strongest equal pay laws in the nation – but there is still more work to do.”

In a tweet, Mrs. Siebel Newsom wrote, "In California alone, women lose 78.6 billion dollars to the wage gap. It’s time to end this injustice. It’s time to close the gap."

13 companies committed to close the gender wage gap

She praised the companies committed to pay equity including Airbnb, Apple, AT&T, Autodesk, Branch Metrics, Gusto, Ike Robotics, Medallia, salesforce, Shuteerfly, Square, SunRun, and Zynga.

These companies made a commitment to conduct an annual gender pay analysis, review hiring and promotion procedures to reduce unconscious bias and promote best practices to close the gender wage gap.

On the other hand, Secretary Su said, “Getting strong laws on the books is only the first step; to fulfill the promise of pay equity, we need employees to be aware of their rights, employers to have the tools to do the right thing, and enforcement agencies committed to effectively investigating violations. The tools and resources we have created help on all of those fronts.”

Meanwhile, Times Up Interim CEO Rebecca Goldman, said women are earning lesser money than men across industries. She also stressed that “women of color often lose out the most…The time for equal pay for all women is now.”