Posts Tagged: paid sick leave

More than 50 UFCW Local 555 members went to the Capitol building in Salem last week to convince legislators to pass a paid sick leave law that will cover every worker in Oregon.

“I’m here to help pass a first day paid sick leave law that will benefit every worker in Oregon,” said Jane Killduff, a 17-year member of UFCW Local 555 who works at Albertsons. “It’s important to have paid sick leave on the first day – right now it doesn’t begin until you’ve been out for three days. It’s a major disconnect when the current paid sick leave policy makes it so hard for people who work around food all day to stay home when they’re sick.”

The push for paid sick leave resonates with UFCW members on a personal level. From the checkout lane to the deli, they want customers and the food they buy to be safe and healthy. The issue has inspired many UFCW Local 555 members to lobby for the first time.

“I can’t wait to tell all my coworkers what a blast I had today,” said Justin Dupuis, a five-year UFCW Local 555 member who works at the Safeway distribution center in Portland. “I learned about the legislative process and what it takes to pass good laws. Most of all I just felt like being here was making a difference. Passing paid sick leave for the entire state is going to make Oregon stronger and healthier.”

Over the past few years, members of UFCW Local 555 have helped Oregon’s two largest cities, Portland and Eugene, pass paid sick leave laws. These victories have created momentum. Local 555 members like Ricardo Morales, who works at Safeway in The Dalles, feel like paid sick leave can and should be adopted statewide.

“I’m at lobby day because I believe we can help pass better laws that will give workers better lives,” said Morales. “Our two largest cities have passed paid sick leave, why not the entire state?”

Members who work in Portland, the first place in Oregon to adopt paid sick leave, were excited to share their experience with legislators who were on the fence.

“I was inspired to be here today to help pass paid sick leave,” said UFCW Local 555 member Amber Hamilton who works at QFC. “I live in Portland where it already passed and it’s been great. I want every worker in the state to have it. People are a lot happier. When you get sick, it’s nice to know you have the time to recover. I wish more UFCW members would lobby. As the saying goes, the more the better.”

It was difficult to walk down a hallway in the Capitol without seeing a flash of gold. UFCW members quickly realized that their presence was having an impact both inside and outside of meetings.

“Just standing in the hall, people stop by and tell us ‘great gold shirts!” said Ellen Hudson, a UFCW Local 555 member who works at the Oregon City Fred Meyer. “It’s a great form of recognition. I wish every UFCW member would take time to lobby their elected representatives. I don’t feel you have the right to moan and groan and complain if you’re not willing to step out of your comfort zone and do something. I learned a long time ago that if you don’t speak up, you get rolled over. If we can find the courage to speak up, we’ll always be heard.”

Women’s History Month is the perfect time to reflect on how far women workers have come, but it should also serve as an important reminder that women are still not always treated equally in the workplace.

The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave. Only nine countries don’t have laws that guarantee some paid leave for new mothers: the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Tonga — and the U.S.

Although there have been many improvements in labor conditions for women in recent years, paid maternity leave is unattainable for countless women working in the U.S. Many progressive organizations, worker groups, and unions are fighting to change that.

In a recent status report on the well-being of women world-wide, the Clinton Foundation noted that, “paid maternal leave supports women’s continued employment, job stability, and longer-term wage growth.”

Jessica Milli, a senior research associate at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) has also noted that “women still take on a disproportionate part of the care burden and have to take more time off. This has huge implications for their earnings, and their overall experience in the workplace.”

Thanks to worker activism, some employers are seeing the value in providing more paid maternity leave for their female employees, and are realizing that they are far more likely to retain their staff by doing so.

At Walmart, there is still much work to be done in regards to getting better treatment for pregnant workers. In response to unethical and potentially unlawful treatment of pregnant workers and the widespread financial hardship forced onto working women at Walmart, Walmart moms formed together to create the group Respect the Bump.

Since banding together they have called for Walmart to publicly commit to better pay and protections at the country’s largest employer of women. With the support of the country’s leading women’s rights advocates, the group developed a list of urgent policy changes the company must make to ensure that the women who are helping the company profit are not living in poverty or putting their health at risk.

Thelma Moore, a member of Respect the Bump, was fired for taking time off to ensure her pregnancy was viable after an in-store accident. “Walmart could be paving the way for good jobs for working moms like us,” said Moore. “Instead, we’re fighting for bathroom breaks when we’re pregnant and steady schedules that let us get reliable childcare and put food on the table.”

The mothers of Respect the Bump are still working hard to advocate for better treatment, but in early 2014 their efforts paid off when Walmart quietly overhauled its pregnancy policy to provide basic accommodations for employees experiencing complications with their pregnancies, in a shift that could ease the way for hundreds of thousands of its other female employees who could have babies down the road.

Women’s History Month is the perfect time to reflect on how far women workers have come, but it should also serve as an important reminder that women are still not always treated equally in the workplace. For women, belonging to a union helps ensure a level playing field, protect against gender discrimination, and provides greater benefits than non-union counterparts.