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Community Corner

Local Women Push Equal Pay

Deerfield AAUW members greet commuters on Equal Pay Day.

Commuters at the downtown were treated to PayDay candy bars Tuesday by members of the Deerfield chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) commemorating .

Mary Lou Heinrichs of Deerfield and Sherry Kaplan of Riverwoods greeted people at the station offering the candy bar and asking for support for women receiving equal pay for doing the equal work of a man.

“April 17 is the day women finally catch up to the men,” AAUW member and spokesperson Harriett Perrin said. “That’s how long we have to work to before we are earning what the men are,” she added explaining women average salaries 29 percent lower than their male counterparts for the same effort.

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The men Kaplan and Heinrichs encountered on the platform mostly showed support and surprise. Michael Hull did not take a candy bar but was in total support.

“I have a house full of daughters,” Hull said. “I am very much in favor. Being in a business with a lot of women I appreciate it in my professional wife as well.”

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When Heinrichs approached one man, she explained how he took a less than supportive view. “He said he was not for equal pay for equal work and women should stay home,” she said. “I told him how lucky you are you zip your pants up the front.”

Another man, Michael Seaver of Chicago, who commutes to a job in Deerfield from the city, doubted the statistics. “If it were true no employer would ever hire a man,” he said. “Employers hire employees for a variety of reasons.”

For the most part, Heinrichs and Kaplan were pleased with their effort but believe not all parts of the Chicago area embrace the issue like the people of Deerfield.

“People were very positive,” Heinrichs said. “In Deerfield we don’t experience it as much as other places. In the city, for single moms, it’s a horrible thing.”

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