Labor Leaders and Working Women Celebrate 20 Years of The Family and Medical Leave Act! A Blog Carnival For One of Our Country’s Most Cherished Laws
Posted February 8th, 2013 by Carol Joyner and Ruth MartinThis blog carnival was updated several times, including on February 6, February 7 and February 8, 2013.
You read that right. Its been 20 years since the United States passed job-protected, unpaid family medical leave for families to care for themselves during time of illness, or to celebrate the birth or adoption of a child. Even more incredible, the law has been used a whopping 100 million times since its enactment! We have so much to celebrate. We also have so much more to do!
MomsRising.org and the Labor Project for Working Families invite you to show your support for the FMLA, and also for the need to expand it by enabling all families to have access to paid family leave, by leaving comments on your favorite blog posts and sharing them with your family and friends. The 20th birthday of FMLA is a celebration but also a reminder that much is left to be done: Most part-time workers and nearly 50 percent of full-time workers aren’t eligible to use FMLA — and millions who are eligible to take it, can’t afford to because it’s unpaid.
Americans agree: ensuring you can care for your loved ones and not have to give up a paycheck to do it should be national policy. There’s nothing more important than taking responsibility and caring for your family members. By raising our collective voices, we can ensure that every future celebration of the FMLA is sweeter than the previous year. Thank you for your support!
Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO
Make FMLA’s Promise Real—Together
Mary Kay Henry, SEIU
Celebrating 20 Years of the FMLA
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers
Teachers Celebrate FMLA, But Our Work Is Not Yet Done
Lee Saunders and Laura Reyes, AFSCME
Celebrating 20 Years of the Family and Medical Leave Act
Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America
75 Million Workers Are Counting on Us to Expand on FMLA
Veda Shook, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
Even the Most Committed Workers Need Sick Leave
Leo W. Gerard, United Steelworkers (USW)
United Steelworkers Union Marks 20 Years of FMLA — Statement and Testimonials
Carol Joyner, Labor Project for Working Families
FMLA Was A Hard-Fought Victory, But There’s Much More to Do
Carol S. Rosenblatt, Coalition of Labor Union Women
Celebrating FMLA: But We Can’t Wait 20 Years to Fix It
Alicia Criado, National Council of La Raza
Making the Workplace Friendly for Everyone’s Familia
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, MomsRising.org
MomsRising Celebrates and Looks Forward to Expanding on FMLA with Our Partners
Cathy Carothers, U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
FMLA: An Essential Piece to the Puzzle
Liz Watson, National Women’s Law Center
Twelve Weeks and Twenty Years: Happy Birthday, Family and Medical Leave Act!
Debra L. Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families
FMLA 20 Years On: A Disconnect That’s Hurting Families
Charlie Rose, MomsRising.org
MomsRising Members Share Their FMLA Stories (Pics included!)
Vivienne Parra, U.S. Army Veteran
A Battle for My Rights and My Life: Learning About the Family Medical Leave Act and How to Survive
Kelly Singleton Dalton, Mother and Navy Veteran
Member Voices: What Ancient Sparta Taught Me About Motherhood
CT Working Moms
An Idea is Brewing in CT: Family and Medical Leave Insurance
More from the MomsRising blog:
“Maternity Leave Matters: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MOMSRISING #RADIO”, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, MomsRising
Waterstone Mortgage Agrees to Pay $27,000 to Settle Maternity Discrimination Claims over Round Rock, Texas Home, John Trasviña, Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
“What Really Need to Support Breastfeeding Moms in NYC”, Diana Limongi, LadydeeLG blog
“On the 10th Anniversary of Paid Family Leave, It’s Time More Workers Know About It”, Maria Elena Durazo, LA County Federation of Labor
“New BLS Data Confirm Unequal Access to Paid Leave Among U.S. Workers”, Kevin Miller and Caroline Dobuzinskis, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
“Marissa Mayer, Bus Drivers, and Riding a Horse Together”, Claire Moshenberg, MomsRising
Around the Web
“Bill Clinton: Why I Signed the Family and Medical Leave Act”, Politico
“Statement by President Obama on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act”, WhiteHouse.gov
“Another Barrier to Maternity Leave for Those Who Need It Most: Knowing About It”, Nanette Fondas for Ms. Magazine
“Business Leaders of America: Fear Not Paid Family Leave”, Nanette Fondas for Huffington Post
“Presidential Candidates: Moms and Newborns Need Paid Family Leave”, Nanette Fondas for Huffington Post
“20th Anniversary of FMLA Offers Mixed Reviews”, Employee Benefit News
4 Comments
March 17, 2013 at 4:32 am by magicianNot so poor. Intriguing items right here
[Reply]
February 6, 2013 at 3:06 am by jose melendezI been out of work for several months due to my 13 year old son’s cancer diagnosis. My son is still fighting the disease. I have used all of my vacation time and have approximately 500 hours of sick time that I been told I cannot use because I am not the one that is sick. I been given the ultimatum to return to work by March. My son is under going chemotherapy for a rare cancer (DSRCT) and just don’t know what to do.
[Reply]
February 6, 2013 at 1:24 am by mattiKeep up your great work “moms rising”.
[Reply]
February 5, 2013 at 2:50 pm by Anjali NoronhaHow regressive and backward is the US and how smugly satisfied. Why should such leave be unpaid leave – it should be fully paid and if extended, partially paid leave at least. In India and many other Asian countries there has been for years now – 3 months of paid maternity leave which is the right of all mothers irrespective of their years in service. It has been now extended to 6 months due to the need for the mother to breast feed her child. And now there is also 15 days of paternity leave. And you call unpaid leave a right – how oppressed are you guys. In addition there is medical leave after certain years of service fully paid and half paid.
American moms – you really have a lot of rising to do – demand from your senators paid not unpaid leave for maternity. Our families have the right to much more – we have built the world.
[Reply]
Trackbacks
Leave a Comment