AFL-CIO Honors the Legacy of Lilly Ledbetter

October 14, 2024

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement on the death of Lilly Ledbetter:

Lilly Ledbetter will forever be remembered as a trailblazing activist whose fight for fairness in the workplace led to the passage of groundbreaking equal pay legislation. We're deeply saddened by her passing but are comforted knowing that her life's work lives on in every woman worker who has refused to accept the unfair status quo.

After nearly two decades at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Alabama, she learned that she was making thousands less than the men she worked alongside. Over the course of her career, she lost out on more than $200,000in wages, plus even more in retirement benefits. She challenged Goodyear's discriminatory actions, eventually taking her case to the U.S. Supreme Court and the halls of Congress. In 2009, then-President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, giving women and all workers the right to sue over pay discrimination.

Fifteen years later, there is far more that needs to be done to eliminate the gender pay gap once and for all. Despite the progress women have made in the workplace, the disparity is actually widening: Women working full time, year-round were paid 83 centsfor every dollar paid to white men in 2023, compared to 84 cents in 2022. Black women working full time, year-round in 2023 were paid 66 centsfor every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, down from 69 cents in 2022. Latinas working full time, year-round were paid just 58 centsfor every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men; and Native American women just 59 cents. Mothers working full time and year-round make only 71 centsfor every dollar paid to full time, year-round working fathers.

The single best tool women have to close the pay gap in their workplace is a union contract. That's why the fight for equal pay must include the fight to protect collective bargaining and the right to form a union, alongside state and federal legislation to ensure every worker is paid fairly, no matter who we are.

Lilly was a true American hero, and we stand firmly committed to continuing her fight and realizing her dream of equal pay for all. On behalf of the entire American labor movement, we thank her for being a champion for equity and fairness, and we send our deepest condolences to her family and all who loved her.

Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018