The Equal Pay Defeat in Two Pictures

For.

Against.

(photo 1: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images caption: Lilly Ledbetter (2nd R) is joined by (L-R) Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Selley Berkley (D-NV), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Rep. Rosa DeLaruro (D-CT) and Rep. Jan Schakowski (D-IL) hold a quick press availability before the Senate makes a procedural vote on an equal pay bill at the U.S. Captiol June 5, 2012 in Washington, DC. Despite strong support from President Barack Obama, the bill that calls for equal pay in the workplace was blocked by Senate Republicans. Ledbetter, a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998, sued the company for paying her significantly less than her male counterparts. She lost her case, which went to the Supreme Court, but inspired the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. photo 2: Getty Images caption: senator jon kyl of arizona answers reporter’s questions alongside other Republican senators after the equal-pay vote.)