The number one value the left is interested in is equality. I do not share their feeling.
8% difference can be covered by almost anything. Maybe the man making 8% more has more experience, is more versatile, is a better team player and therefore is more valuable to the team, doesn't take as much time off so is more reliable? Maybe she literally can't do the same job a man can. I worked warehousing for years an dwomen got paid the same wage I did, yet did NONE of the real hard work. Was that "equality"?
All these tings should be considered. Yet some think it should simply be equal pay no matter what. You work in the same job title as a man, you should make just as much.
I haven't looked into the issue much but I would love to see the stats how much pay per every normal hour WORKED. I am not sure if it is or isn't counted but guys are more likely to work overtime, do they factor in that when they comparing a male and female working the same job?
It's unfair say if both get the same hourly rate, but the male on average works 4 hours of OT at double the rate a week, to compare how much each makes over the coarse of a year, simple fact is if they have the same base rate then it's equal. As I said I am not sure if this is taken into account or not(although you think if it was the Republicans would point that out)