ST. LOUIS, MO – Close to a thousand women leaders from nearly every state in the union will be in St. Louis for the 2009 AAUW National Convention on June 26–28. The country's leading organization promoting education and equity for women and girls will meet at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand and Suites Hotel—previously known as the Statler Hotel, the setting for the historic convention of the National American Suffrage Association.
AAUW members will be joined by Lilly Ledbetter, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA). Ledbetter is the inspiration behind the first piece of legislation signed by President Barack Obama. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restores basic protections that allow workers to challenge wage discrimination. Reps. DeLauro and Speier have long been recognized as champions of issues that benefit women and families.
"Our convention provides an opportunity for the delegates to have a voice in shaping the future of AAUW and to be inspired and re-energized," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "Just like Lilly Ledbetter and Congresswomen DeLauro and Speier, AAUW's 100,000 members work every day, in their states and community branches, to break down barriers so that all women have a fair chance. The delegates here at the convention represent the AAUW national community, bringing strong and clear voices of support to AAUW's 127-year commitment to fight for equity for women and girls."
"AAUW has been very supportive of me," Ledbetter said. "I keep telling my story to protect future generations. I may have lost my personal battle, but I'm still working for all the women and girls out there who deserve equal pay and fair treatment under the law."
"I have worked closely with AAUW throughout my career," said Speier. "I look forward to hearing AAUW members' ideas—and sharing mine—about the future of our country."
About Lilly Ledbetter
Ledbetter worked for nearly two decades at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Gadsden, Alabama. Despite receiving top performance awards, Ledbetter discovered that she had been paid significantly less than male co-workers doing the same job. After her November 1998 retirement, she filed suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was awarded back pay and other remedies in a jury trial.
In 2007, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ignored 40 years of EEOC policy and legal precedent in a 5-4 decision that erased Ledbetter's award and narrowed the interpretation of pay equity laws. The justices ruled that employees can only file a wage discrimination complaint within 180 days of the original pay decision, leaving women, minorities, and others in Ledbetter's situation with virtually no recourse. Earlier this year, the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law, restoring these legal protections. Although she spent years of her life working on a case that will never yield her a dime, she says that restoring rights for women is her reward.
About Rep. Rosa DeLauro
Rep. Rosa DeLauro was first elected to Congress from Connecticut's 3rd District in 1990 and is currently serving her 10th term. DeLauro sits on the influential House Appropriations and Budget Committees. She serves as chair of the Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee and as a member of the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittees. She has served as co-chair of the House Steering and Policy Committee since 2002. DeLauro was described by one nationally syndicated columnist as a "hero for working families" for her work on labor and health issues in Congress. In January 2009, she introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act which was passed by the House of Representatives as one of the first legislative issues to be considered by the 111th Congress. It put wage discrimination on the basis of gender on the same legal footing as wage discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, DeLauro has led the fight for affordable, high-quality health care and championed legislation that would provide paid sick leave to employees.
About Rep. Jackie Speier
During her 18 years in the California State Assembly and the California Senate, Speier authored more than 300 bills that were signed into law by both Democratic and Republican governors. Her four-year crusade to protect consumers' financial privacy from the invasive practices of banking and insurance companies led to passage of the landmark California Financial Privacy Act, which was hailed by Consumers Union as "the strongest financial privacy legislation in the nation." Now in the U.S. House of Representatives, Speier serves on three influential committees—the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
