Governor Hochul: "It's a day for us to reflect and also to become more energized in our pursuit of true equality for all women, particularly recognizing the challenges that Latinas have in our society today."
Hochul: "So today I'm announcing a new Latina Mentorship Initiative. We want to make sure that we have policies and an opportunity for them to work closely with others, have people who will embrace them and help lead them. And let's get together with the younger children, the children in middle school, and high school, and elementary school and build a cohort around them so they can see the true possibilities."
Latina Equal Pay Day, observed on October 21st this year, is the day when Latina pay catches up to that of white, non-Hispanic men from the previous year. To mark the day, Governor Kathy Hochul convened a virtual roundtable with Latina government, community, and corporate leaders to discuss pay equity, representation in government, and Latina contributions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor opened the roundtable by announcing a new Latina Mentorship Initiative will be launched, in recognition of the need to support our young people at the earliest stages and build a pipeline to success for Latinas.
VIDEO of the Governor's remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of today's remarks is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you everyone, and I appreciate you joining us on this day, which is not a day to celebrate, but it's a day for us to reflect and also to become more energized in our pursuit of true equality for all women, particularly recognizing the challenges that Latinas have in our society today. I also want to recognize some of my dynamic team. Neysa Alsina, special advisor on COVID relief, and she has been doing an incredible job. Came in day one to make sure that the money that had been allocated for the Excluded Worker Program for many other people, who were suffering during the pandemic, our rent relief program, uh, she started immediately trying to get that money out there.
And I want to thank her for her service and also. Melissa Quesada, the Associate Commissioner for External Affairs for the Department of Labor, which is a long title, but she is indispensable and always has been, in terms of making sure we are reaching the right constituencies for enacting the right policies. And I know you know her, but she's been incredible. And also you'll be hearing from another members of my administration during the meeting. You'll be hearing from them, but what's more important is hearing from all of you on, at the end of my remarks, I'll be turning it over to Emily once again.
So happy to be here and can have this group of powerhouse Latinas, and they just want to, first of all, just say, thank you. Thank you for showing up all over the state, and gathering, to bring your expertise and your passion and your unrelenting commitment in the fight for equal pay justice. And many of you have your own lives to lead, and families, and dealing with your own work experience, but what you care enough to larger dialogue, which is going on here today. This is my third or fourth time participating. We did Zoom last year in person the year before. But we're going to someday look back at this, whether it's in Zoom or in person, uh, as a time when we started really changing society and attitudes about the role of Latinas. And I want to thank you for being. That's why we're here. We're going to have a dialogue. We're going to be problem solving. And we also want to address the obstacles that you face on the ground. Tell us what they are. This is how I operate, and some of you see me as Lieutenant governor, some of you may not be as familiar with me and my approach. I want to get all the data. I want to talk to people. I want to feel the energy of people like yourselves to bring the ideas forward to us. I want to hear what they are. Tell me what is going wrong, where are the barriers and why do we have such a sad state of affairs in society today?
Even in the great state of New York, Latinas are not paid what they're entitled to. And I'm outraged by this, I know you are as well, but I don't want just Latinas to be the ones who are saying this is unjust. Everybody in the state of New York should feel that this is intolerable. And for every dollar a white man earns, a Latina earns 56 cents. That's almost impossible to say without just getting a sense of anger about it. You know, what is going on here, why are, why is this occurring in 2021? That's almost impossible to comprehend how that injustice, that disparity still exists. After all the conversations we've had over the years about it. Women have to work, Latinas have to work 22 months longer than men white men earn the same rate. At that rate, by the year [2220], it's going to take a long time to get there. So it's been a long journey. Um, we had to talk about that and Latinas are finding that they're being asked to find even more hours in a day than anyone else. They juggle childcare, they juggle elder care, homeschooling, family care, and they still have their own jobs. It's almost impossible to think of what has been on their plate. Well, that was even before the pandemic. I'm not telling you anything you don't know.
So many Latinas are in the jobs where they literally did not have the luxury of sitting home and staring on zoom calls and considering that their job. They had to show up, they put on uniforms, they went into hospitals, they went into the restaurants and they're making the to-go food to-go.
They drove our buses and our transit, our transportation system. They worked in factories to make sure our supply chain was still functioning during this - grocery stores. Unbelievable what they did during this time. And what recognition did they get? None. They were just out there doing their jobs, not getting any extra pay, not getting recognition. And we would not have survived this pandemic without them, and that is a statement of truth.
So they showed us what bravery and sacrifice was all about. And we stood on our balconies and banged pots to honor the healthcare workers. Chances are, when we were banging, we were probably cheering mostly for Latinas because they were absolutely essential during this crisis.
But why do we still have to wait all these years for us to reach true pay equity, parity for Latinas? So what I want to do is start changing people's attitudes and changing actually what is going on on the ground. I believe that we need to have more mentors for Latinas. There are still too many barriers to advancement because young women don't see other people that look like them and have the same life's experience in higher positions. And we've been taking action along that. So today I'm announcing a new Latina mentorship initiative. We want to make sure that we have policies and an opportunity for them to work closely with others, have people who will embrace them and help lead them. And let's get together with the younger children, the children in middle school, and high school, and elementary school and build a cohort around them so they can see the true possibilities.
And that will be in concert with the council on children and families, as well as our Latina leaders. So we want to work on that, help us define what that should look like. But also, what is our recruitment plan for these mentors? Where are the sites? How do we have an implementation plan and how do we measure the results? How will we know when we've been successful? So it's not just a, we're not just putting out a press release saying we're doing this. Let's have real results. Let's show young women paired up with someone else who will track them and help them be successful for many years to come. That's what a real mentor program is.
So we are making sure that this is going to be launched - with your help we'll launch it for the spring semester. So we don't have a lot of time. So I want to get engaged in that right away. So we need your help to help the younger women in particular. Also my administration, I have said from day one, when you look at the representation of Latinas in government and elected officials across the city of New York, and across the great state of New York, there are just too far, too far, few in relation to their representation in the population.
There's no connection between the number of Latinas in our state and the number of elected positions they hold. And what I have known all my life, starting out as a young intern, I was the only woman in the room. I was the only teenager in the room working in Democratic politics, trying to help elect good people. And I never envisioned myself even getting elected. I was always behind the scenes and helping the guys and helping other candidates look good. I didn't have a role model to show me the possibilities for myself. That is even worse for young Latinas. They don't see the role models in front of them. And they made, because they've not had opportunities to serve in government and other areas, they may not have the resume they believe they have, or should have, to be able to run for office as well. So what I've been doing very intentionally is interviewing and identifying Latinas already. And who are out in society, out in their community, out in government, bringing them into our administration in significant roles.
Everything from brand new commissioners, we just rolled out a number today but there'll be even more next week, significant positions for the first time a Latina has ever held that position. You're going to hear that over and over in our administration. And that's something I'm proud of.
I wanted to level the playing field a little bit better for women who have not had these opportunities, give them a fighting chance, but not just commissioner-level. Staff levels, all the way down to internships, so young women, just like I was a long time ago, will have the same opportunity. And we'll nurture them and we'll make them love the opportunities afforded to people who serve in the public and let them know the nobility of public service. And whether they stay in government or not, or they go off, or they go into not-for-profits or they go into government, there are so many opportunities for them, but all of us, in my opinion, have a responsibility to the next generation, as well as lifting up those today who still find the barriers that exist to them earning a good salary. But I'm going to do my part. That's my commitment to you, because I truly believe in this cause, that together we can right this wrong.
So we're going to be doing this as well. And I want to tell you, give us names, tell us people you think would be good candidates to serve in our administration. I've been reaching out to many, many people for the last 60 days, and I want to make sure we have all your voices represented as well. It's also geographic. It's not just in the City of New York. It's all throughout the State of New York, want to see more women represented in these positions.
So what else we can do to help women? Affordable childcare, an issue that was a reason why I had to leave a job a long time ago when my kids were born, but Latinas are facing even more barriers. In their own neighborhoods, there are so few, there's what we call childcare deserts. It's over either too expensive or just not even available. So let's break that down. Huge priority of my administration.
Also higher pay for our low wage workers. I was out there, the fight for 15, years ago, when people said it would bring our economy to its knees if we paid people 15 dollars. Well look where we are today, my friends. People are realizing the value of human capital and that it needs to be paid its true worth. And we're going to make sure we have everyone paid higher wages so they can take care of their families, and be financially independent, and not be trapped in abusive relationships sometimes when they stick around because they need the income to support their families. Let's break loose from that situation.
And we also need more jobs and skills training. I'm so invested in this as well. Every time I'm meeting with people, and it's a male dominated world, a factory or engineering firm, a STEM field, wherever I go, I don't see enough women represented. And I say to them, what are you doing to recruit more women? I put it on the businesses, but government has a role to play as well. We'll provide the skills and training so they are ready to launch in these better paying jobs. And we'll also continue to support minority and women-owned businesses with opportunities, particularly when it comes to state contracts. So this is what I'm invested in.
So we're off to a good start, but I'm putting the world on notice. This is New York. We don't just acknowledge a problem. We do something about it. And the voices of Latinas have not been adequately represented in government or in the private sector, and that's about to change. And I'm excited to do this with all of you. We have a lot of work go in front of us, but I embrace the challenge. And I know at the end of my administration, one of the legacies I want to leave is that we empowered more Latinas to have opportunities that otherwise would not have been afforded to them. This is personal to me. I want to make sure we get this done. So, just want to thank everybody, and I appreciate your help on putting together the mentoring program. And at this point, I'll turn it over to Emily to take it away, but thank you for caring enough to be part of this conversation.