This post has been updated.
The executive director of the Texas Republican Party on Monday evening argued that rather than seeking legal recourse on equal pay, women should learn to better negotiate their salaries.
“Men are better negotiators, and I would encourage women, instead of pursuing the courts for action, to become better negotiators,” Beth Cubriel said on YNN’s “Capitol Tonight.”
Cubriel’s comments come just one day after Cari Cristman, the executive director of the conservative Red State Women PAC, said that existing fair pay laws are sufficient and that women are too “busy” to push for more equal pay legislation.
“We lead busy lives, whether working professionally, whether working from home, and times are extremely busy. It’s a busy cycle for women and we’ve got a lot to juggle. So when we look at this issue we think, what’s practical? And we want more access to jobs. We want to be able to get a higher education degree at the same time that we’re working or raising a family,” Cristman told Dallas TV station WFAA.
Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) sponsored fair pay legislation in Texas last year, but Gov. Rick Perry (R) vetoed the bill. Davis’ Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Lt. Gov. Greg Abbott, has argued that federal equal pay law does not apply in Texas.
In a Tuesday statement, Davis’ campaign denounced Abbott and Cubriel for their comments about equal pay.
“Greg Abbott’s allies’ defense of his opposition to equal pay for women is out-of-touch and offensive. Texans deserve a governor like Wendy Davis who will fight for economic fairness for all hardworking families instead of Gregg Abbott’s business as usual hostility to fair pay legislation,” Davis campaign spokeswoman Rebecca Acuna said in a statement.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D) criticized the comments made by Cubriel and Cristman in a Tuesday statement to TPM.
“This is insulting to women and ignores the wealth of research that indicates women continue to make less than men for doing the same jobs,” she said. “I encourage women to seek whatever recourse is necessary if they believe they are not being treated equally.”
Watch the video of Cubriel via Wendy Davis’ campaign:
h/t Huffington Post
