Tag Archives: Employment

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**Guess what? Since this supporter put together this list, our economy has continued to add jobs. To date, we’ve added nearly 5.2 million private sector jobs over 31 consecutive monthsWhat is this?Every day from now until Election Day, we’ll send you something that
makes the case for voting for Barack Obama. Today, it’s a supporter’s
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Pregnant Workers Deserve Better – Take Action


National Women's Law Center
 http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues
Tell Congress: Pregnant Workers Deserve Better
                Tell your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.
Take Action

Did you hear the good news?
Last week, the Senate introduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women aren’t forced out of their jobs.
But just because a bill was introduced doesn’t mean it will move unless we turn the pressure up. That’s where you come in.
Take Action: Please Contact Your Members of Congress today and ask them to co-sponsor the bill. The more co-sponsors, the more likely this bill will move forward.
Forty years ago, women were expected to quit their jobs when they became pregnant. Back then, pregnancy was widely regarded as a disabling condition.
Today, it is now a well-accepted fact that most women remain perfectly healthy and able to work throughout their pregnancies, and since 1978 pregnancy discrimination has been illegal. Yet women in physically demanding jobs are STILL being forced out of the workplace, just because they need temporary, minor modifications to their job duties during pregnancy. As a result, expectant mothers are losing their jobs when they can least afford it.
Here are three startling examples:

  • Heather got fired from Wal-Mart for carrying a water bottle.
  • Natasha was forced onto unpaid leave and then fired because her district manager at Rent-A-Center found out she needed help with occasional heavy lifting on the sales floor.
  • Sarah lost her job at a fast food restaurant for taking bathroom and water breaks.

And what do all of these women have in common? All three needed only minor accommodations to continue safely working during pregnancy. But because their employers refused, all three were forced out of work.
That’s why we need to build support for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Please join us by asking your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill.
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. Fired up? Help spread the word by forwarding this action alert to friends, family and colleagues.
P.P.S. Need more info? Check out NWLC’s resources on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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CPS states they Offered a Fair and Reasonable Deal to CTU to Avoid a Strike


Chicago Teachers Strike For The First Time in 25 Years

Photo from Care2
 Visit cps.edu/childrenfirst or call 311 if you have no alternative childcare
From the CPS website : Posted September 9, 2012

The Chicago Board of Education is Offering the Chicago Teachers Union a Fair and Reasonable Proposal

to Set the Stage for a Deal and Avoid a Strike:

 

Increases in Pay: 16 percent average salary increase equaling $320 million over the next four years, including COLA (3% year 1; 2% years 2,3,4) lanes and modified step increases that both reward experience and provides better incentives for mid-career teachers to help keep them serving in the Chicago Public School system.

New Opportunities and Security for Laid Off Teachers:

  • Teachers displaced due to school closings: will receive a job at a school receiving their students if there is a vacancy; placed in a reassigned teacher pool for five months or may elect to receive a three-month lump sum severance; or placed in a Quality Teacher Force Pool in which teachers who apply for positions shall be entitled to an interview and explanation if not hired.
  • Teachers displaced due to turnarounds or phase outs: placed in a reassigned teacher pool for five months or may elect three-month lump sum severance.
  • Teachers displaced for other reasons: shall have recall rights for one year for the same unit and position and will be offered interim assignment in substitute teacher pool.

Joint Implementation of Teacher Evaluations with Flexibility When Needed: The Board has proposed to work jointly with CTU to fully implement REACH Students and maintain performance standards and student growth requirements. This proposal will also allow CPS and CTU to study REACH’s implementation jointly and make adjustments as needed.

New Short-Term Disability Policy, Including First-Ever Paid Maternity Leave: While the banking of sick days will end, the Board will offer short-term disability to all CTU members, including paid-maternity leave. Employees will no longer need to use sick days to take time off needed for the birth of a child – nor will they need to bank the number of sick days needed before starting their family planning. Employees who have a short-term illness will not have to use sick days in order to take time needed to get well; short-term disability coverage will cover their needs and provide pay while recovering. The proposal will protect accrued sick-day accumulation for teachers with over 15 years of service in the form of pension service credits.

CPS to Cover Part of Employee Pension Contribution: The Board has also offered to continue picking up 7% each employee’s 9% pension contribution.

Freeze on Health Care Contributions for Most Plans:  The Board is calling for a modification to the health care plan funding that will freeze all employee health care contributions for single and couple plans with a small increase in family contributions of no more than $20 a pay period in addition to a small increase in emergency room co-pays.  67 percent of all CTU members will not see a change to their healthcare.

Increased Opportunity for Promotion: The Board proposes that CPS and CTU collaborate and work together to increase promotion opportunities and identify differentiated compensation models that have worked in other places.

Improved Health and Living: Like the nearly 40,000 City employees who have already signed up for the Wellness program, the Board is asking teachers to join the program at no cost. Teachers can opt-out of Wellness, and pay a small premium differential.

 

Improved Monitoring of Class Size Issues: The Board remains committed to protecting and maintaining current class sizes, but will establish a panel and joint supervisory committee with the CTU to monitor and address any class size issues that may arise.

 

Creation of a New CTU/CPS Commission to Find Fair Pension Funding Solution: The Board pledges to partner with the CTU through the formation of a Legislative Commission to find the right solutions for pension reform and draft legislation that ensures equitable pension funding.

 

A Better, Fuller Calendar: Maintain a calendar with 180 student attendance days, and 190 teacher workdays, including 10 Professional Development days.

 

A Full School Day: The newly extended Elementary school day will continue to be 7 hours, while high school days will now be 7.25 hours, a decrease from 7.5 hours. In addition, high school teachers will be limited to teaching only five classes.
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Help Close the Pregnancy Loophole …Emily J. Martin, National Women’s Law Center


National Women's Law Center
 
 
     
                  Help Close the Pregnancy Loophole  
     
 

 
     
                  Tell your Representative to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.  
     
  Call (202) 224-3121 today!  
     

Yes it’s true: In 2012, getting pregnant can still cost you your job.
Thanks to a gap opened between discrimination laws and disability laws by court decisions, some employers are refusing to accommodate even simple requests that help workers maintain a healthy pregnancy.
Here are three startling examples of women who, thanks to the pregnancy loophole, were fired for doing what was best for their pregnancies:

  • A retail sales associate in Salina, Kansas was fired for drinking water while working because it violated store policy.
  • A nursing home activities director in Valparaiso, Indiana lost her job because she could no longer lift heavy tables, an activity that took up less than 10 minutes of her workday and with which her coworkers routinely volunteered to assist.
  • A pregnant truck driver in Tennessee was instructed by her obstetrician not to lift more than 20 pounds and sought light duty work. Her employer terminated her, as it made such modifications only to those injured on the job.

Sounds crazy, right? Unfortunately, thousands of pregnant women are forced to choose between losing their jobs (or taking unpaid leave) and endangering their pregnancies, when just a few small workplace accommodations are usually all that’s needed.
To close this egregious pregnancy loophole, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was introduced today in the House of Representatives by Reps. Nadler (D-NY) and a number of his colleagues. To give this bill a solid start, we need as many Representatives to co-sponsor this bill as possible.
Will you take 3 minutes to call your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act? Calling is easy to do.

  1. Call (202) 224-3121.
  2. Tell the operator who answers the phone the name of your Representative. (Not sure? Look it up here.)
  3. Once you are connected to the office of your Representative, tell the staff person who answers:
    • Your name, that you are a constituent from (city, state).
    • I am calling to ask you to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It’s time to close the pregnancy loophole and ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.
    • Thank you.
  4. Hang up and ask your friends or co-workers to make a call as well.

Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
 
Emily J. Martin   Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center     

P.S. Want to learn more? Read the Op-Ed in The New York Times that inspired this bill. And check out a fact sheet on the bill from the National Women’s Law Center.
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Help Senator Mikulski(D-MD) get the Paycheck Fairness Act passed


“Ladies, put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, and get ready to do battle. This calls for a revolution!”

That’s what Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said on the floor of the Senate during the successful fight to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. And now she needs our help for the next battle over equal pay — passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.

In the coming weeks, we expect a Senate vote on this vital legislation so we need you to contact your Senators today

Please tell your Senators to show their support for equal pay by co-sponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by updating the nearly 50-year-old Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers.

No law prohibits employers from penalizing and even firing employees just for TALKING about their salaries. By leaving workers in the dark, workers are prevented from ever learning they are experiencing pay discrimination in their workplace.

Please take two minutes to tell your Senators to co-sponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act and support equal pay.

Your Senators need to hear from you now! The last time the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act, in 2010, it fell just a few votes short of moving forward. Women and their families can’t afford for that to happen again.

Thanks for taking action today.

Sincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves Vice President for Education and Employment National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Please donate $10 today to support the Center’s work to eliminate the wage gap and press for other policies critical to women and their families.