Talking equal pay at Philadelphia City Hall

Legislators gathered Tuesday to talk about equal pay for equal work at a roundtable discussion in Philadelphia City Hall.

State Rep. Donna Bullock, a Democrat from Philadelphia,  says it takes an African-American woman almost twice as long to earn the same as a white man in Pennsylvania.

“It will take a black woman approximately 20 months to earn the same as the average white man’s salary in the same comparable job,” she said.

State Rep. Brian Sims, another city Democrat, says bills to investigate that pay gap have failed in Harrisburg.

“We’ve already made it illegal in theory to pay women less but what we’re not doing is give them the mechanisms to determine if they are being paid less,” he said. “Too often right now a woman doesn’t find out she was making less than her counterparts until she leaves an organization.”

Those involved in the discussion also talked about whether job applicants should have to put down a salary history — which for women is usually lower than male colleagues. They say not having to list it could help cut back on disparities.