Daily Archives: 11/20/2014

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NY Times Features ABB Clients and Cites New Report on Pregnancy Penalty


Dear Friend,
A Better Balance is pleased to present our latest report, The Pregnancy Penalty: How Motherhood Drives Inequality and Poverty in New York City.
Despite advances in gender equality over the past 40 years, women continue to jeopardize their livelihoods simply by having children. One such woman, a client of A Better Balance, is featured  in “The Working Life” column by Rachel Swarns in today’s New York Times. The story highlights how Angelica was pushed out of her job when pregnant because she needed temporarily to avoid working overtime to stay healthy and employed. She and her family lost critical income as a result. This is precisely the kind of situation the New York City Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is designed to address, and ABB is using the law to help Angelica.

ABB client, Sonica Smith, is now being accommodated at work.
But Angelica’s story is just one of many we have heard showing how mothers are regularly penalized in the workplace, resulting in economic harm to them and their families. As explained in the Times:
We know that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act can make a difference. Talk to Sonica Smith, a pregnant sales associate at Zara, a clothing store, who recently negotiated regular breaks to rest and go to the bathroom. Talk to Floralba Fernandez Espinal, who was reinstated after being forced out of her job at a thrift shop. Both women were represented by Dina Bakst, the co-president of A Better Balance, the legal advocacy group that now represents Ms. Valencia, who hopes to recoup the wages she lost.
Our report names, explains and offers solutions to the pregnancy penalty: bias and inflexibility towards women in the workplace that starts when they become pregnant and snowballs into lasting economic disadvantages. Informed by the latest research and by the experiences of our hotline callers, we offer a set of proposals to address the pregnancy penalty in New York City, and encourage the city to set an example for others in the fight against income inequality and the gender wage gap.
How can you help?

Thanks for all you do to support our work.
The A Better Balance Team,
Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Risha, Morenike, Rachel, Jake & Molly
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ABB Client Armanda Legros Testifies Before U.S. Senate Subcommitt​ee!


Armanda Legros, ABB Client & Community Advocate, testifies before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee
Dear Friend,
Two weeks ago, we honored ABB client Armanda Legros from Queens, NY for her inspiring advocacy on behalf of working families. By sharing her own story of pregnancy discrimination and speaking out for others like her, Armanda has become a powerful voice in the fight for fairness in the workplace.
Today, Armanda brought her message to Washington D.C., where she testified in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions in support of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and other protections for working families. We are excited by this movement in the Committee, but we need your help to make the PWFA a reality. Armanda also spoke about the importance of paid sick time and paid family leave. ABB will continue to fight for the PWFA and paid leave, so that no worker has to face the impossible choice between their economic security and taking care of their family.
“If you truly value families, and children,” Armanda told the Committee, “then you have to make sure that the women who bear those children and raise them can earn the fair and equal wages we need to support them.”
We are so proud to work with such a dedicated activist and would like to thank Armanda for her courage and leadership. The rest of Armanda’s testimony is available here.
Thank you for all that you do,
Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Liz, Elizabeth, Risha, Rachel, Morenike & Meredith
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Today’s cute cat picture (from the Amazon)
Português | Español | Deutsch | [+]carmen –The jaguar, a mystical and magical creature, has long been a symbol of power and strength to many indigenous cultures. Today, jaguars face growing danger from deforestation and resource extraction; they are literally disappearing from our planet, with only 15,000 estimated to still roam the wild. But there is hope. Their last remaining stronghold is in the Amazon basin. That’s why it’s so important to protect this region. Please donate today to protect their home.The web of life on Earth depends upon biodiversity, and many animals in the Amazon depend upon the jaguar. The range and habitat requirements of a single jaguar is broad and thus when preserved, many other species are also protected. The survival of jaguars is critical to maintaining a delicate balance within the rainforest ecosystem.As jaguars and other creatures of the Amazon are interconnected, so is our work to protect them. One of the strongest populations of jaguars is currently found in Mato Grosso, Brazil – a region now at risk due to planned construction of mega-dams including the notorious Belo Monte Dam Complex. Another example, is the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador, where we continue to fight to prevent the government of Ecuador from drilling for oil which would put the jaguar – and all life – in danger in the Amazon.

Our ability to thrive as a species on Earth is dependent upon the peoples, plants and animals of the Amazon for the Amazon is a key component of our global life support system. With your support, we have increased our efforts each year to stop the expansion of massive dams, oil and gas development and roads – the primary cause of deforestation and the ultimate threat to the home of the jaguar. Join us now, support the jaguar, its children and our collective futures.

Thank you!


Leila Salazar-Lopez
Program Director
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#MakingProgress


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Wednesday progressive leaders from across the country came together for the 2nd annual Center for American Progress Policy Conference: #MakingProgress. The day focused on efforts to expand economic opportunity, quell inequality, confront climate change, detail the dynamics of our changing nation and the rising American electorate, and how progressive leadership from Mayors and Governors are impacting positive change from the East Coast to the West. We heard from inspiring leaders like, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Venture Capitalist Nick Hanauer and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. See below for a roundup of the ideas shared today:

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CAP’s President, Neera Tanden laid out the day for us…

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Sen. Warren showed us the way forward…


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EPA Director Gina McCarthy explained the urgency of now…

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Sec. Castro shared the importance of economic mobility…

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Mayor DeBlasio highlighted the importance of state and local progress…

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Gov. Hickenlooper has seen firsthand what change can bring…

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BOTTOM LINE:: Everyday the Center for American Progress works to improve the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. As Gov. Ted Strickland reminded us:

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Like CAP Action on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

 

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They’re smuggling pregnant women


 Dear friends,

Thousands of East Africans have been kidnapped by sadistic gangs, and tortured in Egypt’s Sinai until their families pay huge ransoms for their freedom. If we show Egypt’s leaders that this dirty secret is out and damaging the Sinai’s tourism reputation, we can force them to end the horror. Sign now:

SIGN THE PETITION

Nine months pregnant and in chains, Haben’s* torturers beat her ruthlessly demanding a $35,000 ransom from her husband. She gave birth in shackles, beside other terrified captives, with only rusty metal to cut the umbilical cord. It’s unbelievable that this is happening in 2014!
Amazingly Haben survived — but she is one of thousands of East Africans who have been abducted by criminal trafficking rings, and tortured in Egypt’s Sinai until their desperate families pay huge ransoms for their freedom. If we can show Egypt’s leaders that this dirty secret is out and damaging the Sinai’s tourism reputation as the ‘Red Sea Riviera’, they could break the trafficking rings, and free these slaves.
Every hour these men, women and children are in captivity is an hour too long. Sign the urgent petition now and forward it to everyone. When we reach 1 million signers, Avaaz will raise a massive media storm to pressure Egypt to act:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Interim_Egyptian_President_Adly_Mansour_Torture_camps_in_the_desert_stop_the_horror_2/?biEWLbb&v=35815
If we can stop human smuggling in the Sinai — one of the most notorious routes for human trafficking in the world — we can strike a blow against a trade that imprisons nearly one million people a year.
And it’s possible. The Egyptian government has the power and the local resources already deployed to shut the traffickers down for good. Here are a few of the ways we could help:

  • Join with elected officials from Egypt’s major donor countries to press Egypt to act;
  • Run hard-hitting ads targeting Egypt’s prized tourism industry;
  • Expose the names of the key traffickers in a series of national Avaaz campaigns in the region;
  • Help journalists get access to torture camps to investigate which officials are complicit.

Let’s start it all with a million person movement to end this horrific trade in human suffering. Sign now and share with others:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Interim_Egyptian_President_Adly_Mansour_Torture_camps_in_the_desert_stop_the_horror_2/?biEWLbb&v=35815
Our community has stepped in repeatedly to help those trapped in terrible conditions. Last year, we helped rescue migrant Indian labourers trapped in Bahrain. And we’ve helped provide food and medicine to those trapped in Syria. Now let’s help liberate those being tortured in Egypt.
With hope and determination, Ian, Nick, Ari, Bissan, Alice, Wissam, Ricken and the entire Avaaz team
*Haben is a pseudonym, but her story is real.
SOURCES
Egypt/Sudan: Traffickers Who Torture (Human Rights Watch)  http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/11/egyptsudan-traffickers-who-torture
Extortionists, smugglers preying on Eritrean refugees, report says (Globe and Mail) http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/extortionists-smugglers-preying-on-eritrean-refugees-report-…
Egypt/Sudan: Refugees face kidnapping for ransom, brutal treatment and human trafficking (Amnesty International) http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/egyptsudan-refugees-face-kidnapping-for-ransom-brutal-tre…
The Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond (EEPA Report) http://www.eepa.be/wcm/dmdocuments/Small_HumanTrafficking-Sinai2-web-3.pdf
Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’ (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25222336
Egypt’s Sinai: Trafficking, torture and fear (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/egypt-sinai-trafficking-torture-fear-201312682516380563.html
Human Trafficking Statistics (Polaris Project) http://www.cicatelli.org/titlex/downloadable/human%20trafficking%20statistics.pdf