LEWISTON – Over 23 years, Anne Craigs worked her way up from bank receptionist to senior vice president. At the top of her career, at those senior executive meetings, it wasn’t unusual to be the only woman at the table.
“When you’re in that situation, you can’t just look over and ask your colleague, So how’d you do your last negotiations?’ Often our styles are very different,” she said.
That experience, and her new post as chief of the YWCA of Central Maine, prompted Craigs to form a club and join the effort to “get even” in 10 years: equal pay for women, equal seats at the table.
It’s patterned after economist and former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy’s new book, “Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men & What to Do About It.” Murphy has asked the national YWCA for help researching wage gaps through its network of local programs.
The Lewiston YWCA is one of three in New England so far to develop a project around the book. Nine women, including Craigs, have signed on to read it, share experiences and do outreach.
“We all have some time under our belt, and we’ve all gone though some difficulties in our careers, being ambitious and trying to make our way in the world,” Craigs said. “It’s not news to anybody that this is an issue (but) none of us have sat around and said, OK, what are we going to do about it?'”
Nationally, women on average earn 77 cents to every $1 earned by men. That difference can add up to as much as $2 million over a working lifetime, according to Murphy’s Web site, www.wageproject.com.
The site contains a detailed, county- and industry-specific wage calculator to figure wage comparisons for the sexes in each state.
Diane McManus, regional vice president for UnitedKingfield Bank and president of the local YWCA board of directors, said she got involved in the “Getting Even” group because she was surprised to hear the same pay issues she faced in her 20s are still confronting her 26-year-old daughter.
“I didn’t think it would be happening today,” she said.
The women in the local group are in banking, education, real estate, accounting and community volunteering.
Craigs hopes to wrap up the project in four or five months and time it with an invitation to Murphy to visit and speak locally.
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