Remember those Looney Tunes animated cartoons where the characters Wile E. Coyote (also known simply as “The Coyote”) and the Road Runner did battle with each other, with the Road Runner  using devilish tricks to humiliate and defeat the Coyote.  I remember one cartoon, or seem to, where the Road Runner kept zooming ahead, constantly moving the sign that said “5 miles to Somewhere”, so it became a 100 mile trek, with the goal always out of reach.  The Coyote usually wound up running as fast as he could and going SPLAT head on into a wall or cliff, having completely lost his bearings in the skulldudgery and never even getting close to his destination.

I remember a personal trip like that when I, my niece and a few supportive friends made the trek to visit a nephew of mine who had misguidedly joined the remote Rashneesh compound in Oregon.  Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh had purchased the 64,000 acre Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope for $5.7 million and enticed many of his followers to join him, their wallets in hand.  Our goal was to get my nephew to sign some papers to preempt him from emptying out any of his other relatives’ bank accounts into the guru’s pockets, to support the guru’s lavish livestyle or his fleet of Rolls Royce’s, in which he drove by and waved to followers like my nephew whose job was digging fence posts and pledging more money.  As we drove on and on into the Oregon wilderness one of my friends asked dolefully:  “Is someone running ahead of us, moving these signs back 5 miles, every time we drive 4 miles?”

Good question.

And one which Lilly Ledbetter and a lot of other women must be asking ourselves about now. My nephew was not the only one ever to be suckered.  My niece and my friends and I were not the only ones who ever made a long trek only to have the sign posts moved down the road ahead of us to forever prolong the journey. Lily Ledbetter is an unfortunate symbol for women. She embodies the wrong that has been done to us all.  And one more time, there are promises on the table to correct it.  But will it happen?

According to the AFL-CIO in House Passes Two Major Working Family Bills: Fair Pay Act, Paycheck Fairness Act, Lilly Ledbetter says she knows she’ll never recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars she lost from her paychecks because of nearly 20 years of pay discrimination. But a few days ago, by a vote of 247-171, the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Act (H.R. 11) overturning the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied Ledbetter—and any worker who suffers pay discrimination—justice. Then shortly after, lawmakers added some new teeth to equal pay laws and passed the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12) by a 256-163 vote. Both bills now go to the U.S. Senate.

During a conference call with reporters Ledbetter said:

“I’m a living example of the fact that pay discrimination is a pervasive problem in workplace today….My case is just the tip of the iceberg. My case is over and I will never receive any pay. But Congress has the power to ensure what happened to me won’t happen to anyone else.”

After years of working at an Alabama Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant, Ledbetter discovered she was being paid less than the lowest-paid man doing the same work. She gathered enough evidence to file suit, and a jury awarded her $3.8 million. But Goodyear appealed to the Supreme Court.

But in May 2007, the Supreme Court squelched the award and ruled Ledbetter—and other workers—has no right to sue for a remedy in cases of pay discrimination if she—or any worker—waits more than 180 days after her first paycheck, even if she didn’t discover the pay discrimination until years later.

Following the court’s ruling, hundreds of pay discrimination cases have been thrown out based on the 5-4 decision that basically overturned decades of precedent that considered each paycheck a discriminatory act, thus allowing workers who don’t discover the discrimination for years to seek legal remedies.

Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) says the Ledbetter bill is a matter of economic justice and a matter of economic urgency for women and the families they support. More than 300 cases…were lost because of the court’s ruling. How many more were told by their lawyers, “It’s too bad. You’re too late.” We can’t wait another day to pass this law.”

The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s (D-Conn.), would provide more effective remedies for women who are not paid equal wages for doing equal work, by adding some teeth to the 1963 Equal Pay Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act makes the 45-year-old Equal Pay Act a more effective tool. It stiffens penalties, protects workers from retaliation and offers concrete solutions to what is a real problem.

Anti-labor groups and Republican leaders in the Senate are sharpening their knives for the upcoming vote on this and the Employee Free Choice Act.  It is sure to be a knock down drag out battle.

And one more time, can women look forward perpetually to have the destination of equal pay enticingly in our sights then have it moved down the road again?  Will we keep getting suckered in?  Will we once more go SPLAT against the wall of our expectations?  Stay tuned..……