Protect Wellness Protection//Oppose Defunding Amendment

This week House and Senate are scurrying to hammer out amendments to finalize the healthcare cost containment legislation.  While the Senate bill currently includes language for a Prevention Trust Fund that could be used for access to healthy food and fitness programs, the funding for this Trust remains up in the air, with some trying to eliminate the trust after five years.

Please contact your legislator TODAY and ask them to SUPPORT amendment #30 (sponsored by Senator Chandler) which would ensure funding of the Prevention Trust for 5 years and an evaluation and renewal process at the end of 5 years.  The bill currently has a sunset provision which we wish to eliminate.

Ask your reps to OPPOSE amendment #255 (introduced by Senator Tarr) which would eliminate the finance mechanism for the Trust and replace it with 5% of revenue from the payment reform fund created in the casino bill.

ECONOMIC AND ….……FULL EQUALITY                  HEALTH AND                     PROTECTING SOCIAL  JUSTICE…. AND CIVIL RIGHTS     ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE     CIVIL LIBERTIES

JOIN OUR EMAILING LIST!

Working Moms’ Challenges: Paid Leave, Child Care

by Jennifer Ludden

(Click here to listen to this piece)

The past week’s political firestorm in the presidential race focused on stay-at-home moms, but two-thirds of women with young children now work. Nearly half are their family’s primary breadwinner. What some feel is being lost in the political debate are the challenges they face in the workplace.

When Kids Get Sick

“We unfortunately have a number of workplaces that operate as if workers are still men, with wives at home full-time,” says Ellen Bravo, who heads Family Values at Work, a coalition that promotes paid-leave programs.

“So many moms are dying to be able to stay home at the most important moments – namely, when they give birth, and when their kid is sick – and aren’t allowed to do so,” she says.

That was the case for Marianne Bullock a few years ago, when her 18-month-old had a stomach virus. “It was the first time that my daughter had really been sick,” she says. “She was not nursing, and she was lethargic.” Bullock was a personal care assistant in Massachusetts; that day, she called in sick. The next day, she had to take her daughter to the hospital, where she was hydrated. The third morning, her daughter seemed better and Bullock got ready to leave for work.  “As I was walking out the door, she vomited again,” Bullock says. “And I was like, ‘I just have to take her to the hospital.’ And so I called in – and when I called in, the care manager that I spoke to said, ‘You just might as well not come back.’ ” Bullock was fired. She says the manager actually told her they’d rather hire someone without a child.

Many companies do offer generous leave policies, and this year Connecticut became the first state to mandate sick leave. But the United States is one of the only developed nations with no federal policy requiring paid leave.

Read more…

See Page with the full letter and a link to a New York Times Editorial

http://jewishalliance.org/letterushousebill-child-notify/

From the Boston Herald, April 19

A healthy proposal

By Sheila Decter
Thursday, April 19, 2012

E-mail Print (3) Comments Text size  Share

The earned sick time legislation has nothing to do with “buying back” sick time (“City ‘sick’ and tired,” April 17). It is about addressing the basic needs of the 1 million Bay Staters who are unable to take a single day off to care for themselves or their children.

On National Pay Equity Day, the Herald could have recognized that the majority of low-wage workers without earned sick time are women who have to make the impossible choice of sending a sick child to school or risk taking the day off and losing their job. Working mothers know the difficulties of balancing careers and families, and earned sick days are a critical step in creating fair workplaces.

The editorial was a broad mischaracterization of the earned sick time legislation which limits the amount of sick time a worker can take each year and does not require employers to pay for unused sick time after the worker leaves employment. This bill provides exemptions for small and seasonal businesses, keeps workers in their jobs and encourages an equitable workplace for working parents.

— Sheila Decter,

Executive Director Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Boston

Governor Patrick has called for passage of the pending Racial Profiling bill in Massachusetts as a tribute to the tragic death of unarmed teenager – Trayvon Martin in Florida.  Racial profiling in traffic stops has been identified as a serious problem in Massachusetts.   It is impossible to address this problem without statewide data collection and analysis.   H.2853/S.677 would give state and local police the tools and information necessary to identify and take appropriate steps to address racial disparities.  Please call/write your legislators urging swift passage of this legislation.     Sign-on to our collective letter to legislators. Call our JALSA office 617-227-3000  or the ACLU of Massachusetts  (617-482-3170,  Ext. 332) by Tuesday noon if you would like to add your name and organization.