Obama backs law supporting equal pay for equal work

GAINING VOTEBANK: Obama is appealing directly to blue-collar working women who are still undecided in this race.

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Rajdeep Sardesai

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Keywords: Women, McCain

Washington: Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has promised to back a law supporting equal pay for equal work defining a stark contrast with John McCain.

“The problem is that employers are not treating women fairly. That needs to be changed. And I'll change it when I'm President of the United States of America,” says Obama.

McCain opposed the so-called fair-pay law saying it would lead to too many lawsuits and in supporting it, Obama is appealing directly to blue-collar working women who are still undecided in this race.

In the Primaries, Obama lost women voters to senator Clinton. However, he seems to be making up for the loss by standing up for their cause.

“Women are denied jobs or promotions because they've got kids at home. It's unacceptable that 22 million working women don't have a single paid sick day. It's unacceptable that millions of working mothers could actually be fired for taking maternity leave,” saya Obama.

Some reforms that he is talking about include a legislation protecting women who don't get equal pay for equal work, a tax break to help pay for child care, and a campaign for new laws guaranteeing workers get paid during family and medical leave.

Meanwhile, John McCain reacted, saying that many of the proposals Barack Obama outlines, including paid family leave and paid sick days are issues better left to employers and their employees.