Democratic candidate for governor John Gregg (WIBC.com file photo: Eric Berman)

John Gregg says he wants women to get equal pay for equal work.

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"We're also talking about ending this war on women, not just health care but also age discrimination," said the Democratic candidate for governor during a conference call with reporters. 

Gregg says he has a four-part plan to bring the pay of women in line with men in Indiana, saying he would give publicity to businesses that promote equal pay, create a designation from the governor's office for those businesses, establish a hotline where people could report unequal pay anonymously, and create job training programs. "It benefits all segments of society; not just women, but it benefits their spouses, their families and their children."

Gregg would not name specific businesses in Indiana who don't pay women equally.  "I can tell you that I've had people come up to me and tell that. I'm not really at liberty because they were a little fearful. That's one of the reasons we're coming up with the toll-free hotline so they can report something like this in anonymous fashion," Gregg said.

The former state House Speaker also cites the Census Bureau's statistic that women in Indiana make 74 cents for every dollar men make, though studies like those are skewed because they don't take into account those who don't work full-time or who don't work year round.  "By no means are we implying that every business in Indiana does this. We're not saying that. But it is obvious that there is a national average that is lower for women than men, and we're even below that. So, it obviously goes on in Indiana."

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