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Open Flexible Work

A Victory for Workers, a Victory for Families

June 5, 2013
By Mie Lewis, Staff Attorney for the ACLU Women’s Rights Project This week, an Ohio federal jury awarded Christa Dias $171,000 after she was fired from her part-time teaching jobs at two religious schools. Dias had alleged that she was fired for becoming pregnant while unmarried. In response, the...
ACLU's picture

Why Men Work So Many Hours

June 4, 2013
How many employed American mothers work more than 50 hours a week? Go on, guess. I've been asking lots of people that question lately. Most guess around 50 percent. The truth is nine percent. Nine percent of working moms clock more than 50 hours a week during the key years of career advancement:...
Joan C. Williams's picture

Breastfeeding IS a Civil Right!

June 1, 2013
Being a new mother is not easy and getting breastfeeding off to a good start is a small – no, make that a HUGE miracle! Add the stress of losing your job because you tried to give your baby the best start in life? I can’t even imagine it. Breastfeeding became a protected Civil Right in California...
Genevieve Colvin's picture

“We Don’t Pay You to Pee” and Other Reasons Why We Need the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

May 14, 2013
By Liz Watson and Cortelyou Kenney , National Women's Law Center Cross-Posted from NWLC's blog Amanda Roller was a call center employee in Kansas. After Amanda became pregnant she started experiencing morning sickness. Amanda’s supervisor repeatedly refused her requests to go the bathroom and...
Liz Watson's picture

What to Give a Working Mother for Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013
After a long week at work, and the weekend filled with two soccer games, a dance recital and a birthday party, I’ll drive 75 minutes to visit my mother this Mother’s Day. There’s no time for breakfast in bed, a manicure/pedicure with friends or dinner and a movie. That’s okay; that’s not what this...
Liz O Donnell's picture

“Mothers Unite! Organizing for Workplace Flexibility and the Transformation of Family Life” by Jocelyn Elise Crowley

May 1, 2013
It is very loud in the second-floor meeting room of a public library in a medium-size eastern city, the noise coming from twelve toddlers, all under the age of four, running around the room. At this meeting of the local NAMC chapter, eleven group members have put their chairs in a circle in...
Valerie Young's picture

Single Mothers, Double Standard

April 30, 2013
A lot of press about single mothers seemed to surface recently. I’m not sure why. It’s on my radio (NPR, Tell Me More ) and in my morning paper ( The Difference Between Feeling Like a Single Mom and Being One , WashPost, 4/18,2013). Whatever it used to mean, as an identifier “single mother” it is...
Valerie Young's picture

Useless Baggage

April 28, 2013
They’ve hit a new low. Citing significant concerns about long lines at airports and flight delays caused by the furlough of air-traffic controllers, Congress is allowing the Federal Aviation Administration to override strict sequestration rules and re-direct funds within its budget. And they did so...
Jo Comerford's picture

Why We Lean Back

April 10, 2013
All right. I read it. The book that everyone, including my hero, Jon Stewart , has been talking about. So many reviews have been written about this book, that people have resorted to writing reviews of the reviews . The hype has been so incredibly, hyper—The Time story ! The 60 Minutes piece ! The...
Katrina Alcorn's picture

Tell Congress: Don't waste time putting lipstick on a pig!

April 7, 2013
One of my preschooler’s favorite jokes: What do you get when you put lipstick on a pig? Answer: A pig. Why do I bring this up? Because right now, some members of Congress are trying to put lipstick on a pig: They’re introducing a bill called the “Working Families Flexibility Act,” a "comp time"...
Ruth Martin's picture

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