Please read below the full text of Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez endorsement of the Women’s Fund Pay Equity Movement.
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, MAYOR
Office of the Mayor, Miami-Dade County, Florida
August 23, 2017
Dear Miami-Dade Business Leaders:
Since I took office, I have listened and learned about the importance of pay equity and promoting equality in our County’s workplaces. I have made changes to reflect my commitment to the issue, including hiring and promoting women to executive positions in the County. My outstanding team reflects the power of this commitment to equality.
I’m proud to stand for equal pay, and I recognize its ability to improve conditions for many Miami-Dade families. That is why I am acting to make our County the best place for women, and all Miamians, to work and live.
Pay Equity is a priority issue for the County and essential to Miami-Dade’s economic growth. Women make up over 51 percent of the County’s residents, but 20 percent of women in Miami-Dade County are living in poverty. Pay equity can make a significant impact on those poverty rates, yet women still earn just 80 cents for every dollar a man makes for equal work. This is unacceptable.
Therefore, my office is fully supporting and endorsing the efforts of the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade to reduce the wage gap in Miami-Dade County. The Women’s Fund has been chosen to collaborate with my office and The Miami-Dade County Commission for Women to implement the Miami-Dade Women’s Compact.
The Compact seeks to engage businesses to commit to pay equity, and report where they stand on implementing equal pay. To that end, we support the efforts of The Women’s Fund and The Commission for Women to educate the community about the issue and help businesses become equal-pay employers.
For those of you who have already signed the Miami-Dade Women’s Compact, I congratulate you, and urge you to help others to follow you. For those businesses that have not yet joined us, I urge you to sign the Miami-Dade Women’s Compact. Help Miami-Dade County and our partner, The Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade, effect social change for women through our campaign, Equal Pay Miami-Dade.
I look forward to meeting with our Compact members soon to discuss where we stand on this issue, and identify work we can do together to take this movement forward.
Sincerely,
Carlos A. Gimenez
Mayor, Miami-Dade County, Florida
