WTAE-TV News Pittsburgh aired an editorial recently calling for Pennsylvania lawmakers to stop discriminating against mothers and to pass legislation now that would end these horrible discriminatory practices in job interviews.
How cool is it that! Do you hear us, PA legislators? We are getting louder!
Last week we put the word out to the blogs that help was needed in Pennsylvania. Immediately, without pause, blog after blog picked up our story, and the need for change here, and in 27 other states, and RAN.
Because of you bloggers, conversations, and action, are buzzing through the internet. The one common refrain, other than being completely ticked off by the whole concept of maternal profiling, is that people had absolutely NO IDEA, like me (and most of the people I talk to) that it is perfectly legal to discriminate against mothers in job interviews.
The momentum is growing here in the keystone state. Do you feel it?
Dozens of blogs are talking about the problem of “maternal profiling” here and in 27 other states; thousands signed the online petition; and lawmakers might just be waking up.
Yes, people care about the fact that it is legal — in the majority of states in this country — to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or have kids and decide to hire that job applicant, or not, based on their answers. (Ugh. I hate writing that, every time I type it, it makes me madder. I just can’t believe it is true.)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an op-ed today I wrote about Kiki and the legislation pending in Pennsylvania titled, Maternal Profiling. Please check out the article and send it around. This issue is critical in Pennsylvania, but discrimination against mothers can be found everywhere. If we send a message in Pennsylvania, who knows how far that impact will go!
It is almost hard to put into words what it was like to be under one roof with 5,000 Pennsylvania women who are motivated for change. The energy was electric. Yesterday, a group of us including Georgia Berner, Georgia’s friend Linda, Lindsay Patross, Lindsay’s friend Breen and I staffed a booth for MomsRising.org at the PA Governor’s Conference for Women.
We were there, as we have posted, to tell people about the fact that in Pennsylvania it is legal to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or if they have children. Our mission was to help propel these 5,000 Pennsylvanians into action. From a booth with a great “MomsRising” red carpet and a beautiful MomsRising.org banner, we distributed The Motherhood Manifesto, the MotherHood Manifesto DVD and a fantastic handout. We even had a raffle for a ‘Steelers’ basket – which, in Pittsburgh, is always a hit. Mostly we talked, and talked and talked.
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