This Is A Bummer If You Care About Equal Pay

Apparently, third time's not a charm when it comes to equal pay for equal work. On Monday, the Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked unanimously by Republicans — including four female Senators — in what was the party's third attempt to derail this particular piece of legislation within the past two years.

The bill proposed a ban on salary secrecy, as well as the development of training programs that could create better opportunities for women to negotiate compensation. Introduced by Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, it was hailed as a big step toward pay equity.

The fact that every single republican senator voted down the bill met wide criticism from a range of powerful women — most notably, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. And yet, rejection of fair pay legislation is starting to feel par for the course. In a Christian Post op-ed published back in April, conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly famously called the "77 cent on the dollar" figures a "tiresome slogan" that had been trotted out by the President "and his feminist friends."

So, it's incumbent on women (and fair-minded men) across the nation to make their voices heard in support of equal pay. Today, the Center for America Progress suggested seven actionable goals from passing sick-day legislation to raising the minimum wage. And, the only way to make these types of institutional changes, of course, is to keep the conversation going.