~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Victory in Austin and for Poultry Workers

2 Comments

A Better Balance
February Headlines
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube

The 1st Paid Sick Time Law in Texas

The Austin City Council has passed a paid sick time ordinance, making Austin the first city in Texas, and the first southern city to guarantee workers the right to earn paid sick time to use when they or a family member are ill or in need of care. This is the 42nd paid sick time law in the nation and offers strong protections to workers. All workers will be able to earn paid sick time, regardless of their employer’s size. Austin defines “family member” broadly in its paid sick time law to include chosen family members. This means that workers will have the right to use their earned sick time to care for loved ones even if they do not have a biological or legal relationship to them. Austin also joins a growing number of jurisdictions that allow workers to use their earned sick time for “safe time” purposes. Under this law, workers can use earned sick time to address needs related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the worker or the worker’s family member.  We congratulate our partners in Austin on this tremendous victory and look forward to building on this momentum elsewhere in the nation.

ABB’s Sarah Brafman with Amy Poehler

One Fair Wage

ABB joined ROC United and other partners from the One Fair Wage coalition for an event sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation calling for an end to the tipped minimum wage, a practice that leads to devastatingly high rates of sexual harassment. At the event, we shared our Working Woman’s Pocket Guide with actress Amy Poehler, emphasizing the need to pass new laws like One Fair Wage while also making sure women understand the rights they already have!

ABB’s Elizabeth Gedmark with advocates protesting harsh conditions on the line at a poultry plant in North Carolina.

A Victory for Poultry Workers

In a hard fought victory for workers’ rights, consumer safety, and animal rights across the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to deny the National Chicken Council’s petition to eliminate line speed limits at poultry plants. ABB has been working with our coalition partners for months to fight this inhumane petition which would make one of the country’s most dangerous jobs even more dangerous. Read more about our ongoing advocacy here.

Defending Local Sick Time Laws

Last week, ABB, along with a leading group of local government and labor law professors, submitted an amicus brief to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in support of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Days Act. The ordinance, which ABB helped to write and pass in 2015, was challenged almost immediately after it was enacted and is now before the state’s highest court. ABB’s brief argues that Pittsburgh was well within its authority to enact a public health ordinance like the Paid Sick Days Act and that striking it down would have severe consequences for the ability of cities in Pennsylvania to enact policies that protect the health and safety of their residents, potentially blocking cities from making regulations related to zoning, environmental protections, and more.

The FMLA’s 25th Anniversary

On February 5, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Family and Medical Leave Act, we released our new report, A Foundation and a Blueprint. As the report highlights, the FMLA has been a crucial safeguard for millions of Americans, yet federal law has remained largely stagnant as states and cities have lead the way towards more progressive and inclusive workplace leav

2 thoughts on “Victory in Austin and for Poultry Workers”

  1. Thank you for posting: A Victory for Poultry Workers. Unfortunately, their plight is a lot worse than described. I covered some of the problems in my last book “Dysfunctional humans”.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.