More than 100 big companies sign equal pay pledge in final act before Donald Trump's administration

Equal pay was the very first law that Mr Obama tackled. The same issue could be his last

Mr Obama: 'I might be greyer, but this is what a feminist looks like' (AP)

Dozens of large US companies have signed the White House pledge to create equal pay, pushing the total number of companies to more than 100 who have committed to the cause.

They include AT&T, eBay, Estée Lauder, InterContinental Hotels Group, Mastercard, Yahoo, Square and Zillow Group.

The first thing president Barack Obama did in the White House was pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in an attempt to achieve equal pay for equal work.

Eight years later, women make up nearly half of the US labour force yet only earn 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. Black women earn just 63 cents, while Latina women earn 54 cents for every dollar that a white non-Hispanic man earns.

The gender pay gap might be the very last item on the president’s agenda, before he hands off to president-elect Donald Trump.

The pledge for equal pay, designed by the current administration, provides a stark contrast to the next.

While Mr Obama has repeatedly said he was a feminist, Mr Trump has made no such statement, except his claim that “no one respects women more than I do”.

Mr Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway suggested at a Politico event this week that women with children should not take a job at the White House.

Regarding sexism at work, Mr Trump’s son said “strong women” would not “let themselves” be subject to sexism and should just move companies if they are harassed or discriminated against.

Mr Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, called for equal pay for equal work at the Republican National Convention but her father has shown no sign of how that proposal would be achieved.

The incoming labour secretary, fast food CEO Andy Puzder, has been described as a “sworn foe” of the minimum wage.

Women make up 62 per cent of at-or-below minimum wage workers, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.