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UNION NEWS
TEAMSTERS BANK VACATION
FOR FUTURE PARENTAL LEAVE
Teamsters working for the United
Postal Service (UPS) have contract language that
allows them to bank up to twenty days of vacation
for use the following year to cover unpaid leave
taken for reasons related to maternity and/or
bonding.
(IBT & United Postal Service)
ATU MEMBERS HAVE ACCESS TO PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 843 members have
access to three days of parental leave with pay
when taking leave due to the birth or placement
of a child in the home. Members can also use any
accrued vacation and floating holidays during
the parental leave period. All paid time taken
runs concurrently with FMLA. Members also have
the ability to take up to three days of unpaid
leave a month, in no smaller than 2-hour increments.
This is on a first come, first serve basis and
must not create overtime or interfere with the
operations of the employer. Members can request
longer unpaid leave of absences but must receive
the approval of the general manager. They can
also use their accumulated sick leave to care
for an ill family member or domestic partner. (ATU Local 843 & Whatcom Transportation
Authority, Washington State)
NEW MOTHERS DECIDE
WHEN TO USE VACATION/SICK TIME
Members of The National Council of Field Labor
Locals have access to a maternity provision that
allows them to use sick leave, annual leave and
leave without pay when taking job-protected leave
under FMLA. Members may choose what leave they
want to use and in what order. After delivery,
the member can take additional time to make arrangements
for the care of the child by using approved annual
leave or leave without pay. Members can also use
annual and sick leave or leave without pay for
absences associated with adoptions. During this
time there is no loss of seniority. (National Council of Field Labor Locals, AFGE
& Dept of Labor)
MEMBERS GET GENEROUS SICK LEAVE PROVISION FOR
FAMILY
Members of the Ohio Association of Public School
Employees (OAPSE) Chapter 151 successfully negotiated
the right to use, during the school year, up to
fifty days accumulated sick leave to care for
an ill spouse, parent, parent-in-law, child (including
foster, step and/or exchange student), or live-in
relative. Members may also use job-protected,
unpaid leave under FMLA to care for the relatives
listed in this section. (OAPSE Chapter 151, AFSCME & Hamilton
City Board of Education)
MAKING
THE CASE FOR PARENTAL LEAVE
By Nikki Dones
Nine years ago, Elizabeth Gomez was working full-time
when she became pregnant. When no longer able
to work she received six weeks of partial pay
under California’s pregnancy disability
leave law.
Three years later Elizabeth became pregnant with
her second child. She had a different employer;
one who understood the importance of maternity
leave. This time Elizabeth was able to take 3
months off. While state disability provided her
with partial pay for 6 weeks, she was also able
to use accrued sick time and vacation to cover
the remaining period. “I work for a really
good employer who understands the importance of
spending time with a new baby,” states Elizabeth.
“I was able to get paid and not worry about
my job while I was out and that made a big difference.”
While some workers have access to 12 weeks of
unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family and
Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and a few have access
to disability compensation through state laws,
most must rely on what is offered at the workplace.
Unfortunately, too often workers not covered by
a union contract don’t find out about their
employer’s policies until the need to take
leave arises. Most organized workers have a different
experience.
Across the country, labor has successfully negotiated
leave language that includes provisions like full
pay, job protection, the continuation of benefits,
seniority protection and the integration of other
paid leaves to help members get paid time off
when they have or adopt a child. (see Union News).
In a recent study by UCLA, unionized employers
were 3.6 times more likely to have benefits beyond
what the FMLA requires. For example, San Francisco’s
Firefighters union negotiated up to one year of
unpaid leave (for both parents) to bond with a
new baby. They can integrate accumulated vacation
and sick time and they keep their health care
coverage. AFSCME members working for the University
of Minnesota get 2 weeks paid leave and the ability
to take 6 months of unpaid, job-protected leave
to bond with a new baby.
Earlier this year, the Economic Journal published
a report on the correlation between paid maternity
leave and lower infant mortality rates. The study
looked at the effects of paid family leave policies
in 17 European countries and the United States
and found that job-protected, paid leave not only
significantly lowered infant mortality rates but
also had a positive impact on low birth weight.
Unpaid and non-job-protected leave did not result
in the same positive outcomes, which suggests
that the stress and worry of managing on less
money and being unsure of a job have an impact
on starting a family.
Parental bonding and its positive effects on newborns
has been widely documented and most countries
understand and embrace its importance, which is
reflected in the maternity leave laws that exist
around the world: Africa - 48 countries have paid
maternity leave laws, the Americas - 33 countries,
Asia - 36 countries, Europe - 37 countries. The
United States is one of the few that still needs
convincing. Not our unions; they get it.
Sources: Parental Leave and Child Health across
OECD Countries, Sakiko Tanaka, Columbia University.
Economic Journal, Feb 2005.
Paid Family Leave in California: New Research
Findings, Ruth Milkman and Eileen Applebaum,
UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations, June 2004.
Message from the
Executive Director, Netsy Firestein
Parental Leave Today –Looking Back
20 years
Twenty years ago, when I was working for District
65-UAW in New York City, my daughter Sari was
born. Her picture at birth, on the cover of the
union newspaper, appears here instead of mine.
During my maternity leave, I received disability
payments from the state and the union made up
the difference between those payments and my full
salary. I didn’t know at the time how unusual
this was. In 1985 there was no national policy
that provided paid leave when you had or adopted
a child.
Well 20 years later, it’s not much better.
Only five states have state disability insurance
which provides benefits for women to “recover
from pregnancy”. Fathers, mothers and adoptive
parents can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave
under the Family and Medical Leave Act. California
is the only state which provides 6 weeks of partial
compensation for bonding with a new child (as
well as to care for a sick family member), but
a number of other states are working to pass paid
leave laws.
We just celebrated Mother’s and Father’s
Day and gave parents flowers and cards, but not
paid leave to nurture a new child. How little
we really support parents and families
in this country. Maybe in 20 years, we’ll
do better.
Time is Money
By Shelley Waters Boots
Time is money, and these days there doesn’t
seem to be enough of either to go around. The
new reality in today’s 24/7 economy is that
the demands on workers continue to grow, but compensation,
benefits and flexibility fail to keep up. Unfortunately,
it is not just workers that pay a high price.
In this game of long hours, shrinking benefits
and stagnating wages, the biggest losers are workers’
children and families.
Let’s get to the heart of the issue: Between
1970 and 2001, the percentage of mothers in the
workforce rose from 38 to 67 percent. Compared
to 30 years ago, today’s dual-income parents
put in one additional month of full-time work
each year. So what are the realities that parents
and their children face when it comes to balancing
work and family?
Well, one in five employees work most of their
hours in the evenings, during nights or weekends
or on a rotating or highly variable schedule.
Nearly 60 percent of wage and salaried employees
lack the flexibility they need in their jobs to
meet both work and family responsibilities. Being
able to control work start and end times, working
from home or working part-time with benefits are
simply not options for most.
When it comes to a family illness, a school meeting
or a snow day at school, many parents wind up
paying a financial and personal price to meet
their family obligations. Too many parents lack
paid time off—including sick leave, vacation
time or personal days. A recent study by the Institute
for Women’s Policy Research confirms that
49 percent of workers lack basic paid sick leave
for themselves. Even fewer workers can get time
off to care for sick children. Our pro-family
Family and Medical Leave Act has its limitations—only
45 percent of parents working in the private sector
are eligible to take this unpaid leave, and as
few as 5 percent of parents have access to a job
that offers paid parental leave.
These trends and the way work is done in America
have exacted a steep toll on families and children.
What are the costs? Maternal depression—found
to significantly harm children’s development—has
been linked to the lack of flexibility in the
workplace. Studies suggest that children of mothers
who were unable to take an extended maternity
leave have lower cognitive scores than children
whose mothers spent a longer time on leave. Long
hours at work have been linked to children’s
behavior problems and are tied to poor parenting
behavior. For example, a study found that fathers
who worked long hours and felt overloaded were
less accepting and had less positive relationships
with their children.
Children whose parents work nonstandard schedules
are worse off than children whose parents work
regular hours. For example, studies confirm that
children with parents who work nights or evenings
have lower reading and math test scores, and adolescents
with parents who work nonstandard hours experience
more behavioral problems.
Work during nonstandard hours has serious repercussions
on another key factor affecting children’s
development: marriage. When fathers work nights,
separation or divorce is about six times higher
than for fathers who work standard hours. When
mothers work nights, separation or divorce is
three times higher.
Finally, children often suffer from poor-quality
child care. As most parents can attest, finding
and paying for high-quality child care is a Herculean
task. Unfortunately, more than half of all child
care settings have been deemed to be of poor or
mediocre quality. For another 3.3 million children
between the ages of 6 and 12, there is no caregiver
at all. They are left home alone while parents
work.
Workplaces and public policy have not caught up
to these new realities. The burden to adjust and
adapt to an inflexible workplace has fallen squarely
on the backs of working parents. And the true
costs of our outdated employment system are borne
by children. If, in fact, policymakers want to
address the needs of families and improve outcomes
for children, then a package of new policy approaches
is critically needed. By promoting better policies
on sick leave, parental leave, child care and
workplace flexibility, policymakers will go a
long way to help families realize a fundamental
tenet of the American dream: to be both a good
worker and a good parent.
Shelley Waters Boots is Policy Research Director,
Work & Family Program at the New America Foundation,
a non-profit public policy institute. Their report,
“The Way We Work: How Children and Their
Families Fare in a 21st Century Workplace”
is available at http://www.newamerica.net
Originally published at TomPaine.org,
2005
Work & Family Bill of Rights
Originally written by the
Labor Project and the NYC Central Labor Council,
the Work and Family Bill of Rights has been updated
by the Take Care Net, a network of advocacy organizations,
academics, unions and individuals promoting work
family policies. There is now a national campaign
for organizations, unions and individuals to sign
on and publicize these rights that workers need
in order to work and care for their families.
Action Steps:
Post a copy in your union office.
Let members know that the union endorses the Bill
of Rights and is committed to addressing work
and family issues.
Add the union to the national list of supporters
of the Bill of Rights alongside other unions,
community organizations and individuals. Visit
www.takecarenet.org
to sign on.
Families face a shortfall of time and money for
care. A majority of America's children have no
one at home full-time to care for them, while
others, including the elderly and people with
disabilities, increasingly need care. Jobs divide
employees into those with high pay, benefits,
but long hours and little time for family or leisure,
and those with low wages, few benefits, and insufficient
flexibility and financial resources to care for
their families. We can and should do better. Working
families have fundamental rights to financially
sustain and to care for themselves and their families.
These rights include:
1. The right to annual paid family, medical and
personal leave for full- and part-time employees.
Minimum standards for leave are:
a. two weeks of employer-funded paid personal
leave for all employees to be taken at the time
of their choosing.
b. Seven days of employer-funded sick time for
personal or family illness.
c. 12 weeks of paid leave for parents of newborn,
adoptive and foster children, and for serious
illness of the employee, a child, a parent or
other relative, spouse or partner.
d. 16 hours of employer-funded leave to be taken
in small increments for doctor’s appointments,
parent-teacher meetings and other small necessities.
2. The right to negotiated flexibility over work
hours and place:
a. the ability to shift between full-time and
reduced hours as family and personal circumstances
change.
b. equal pay rates and at least pro-rated benefits
for reduced hours employees.
c. no mandatory overtime.
d. flexible schedules and place of work, mutually
agreed upon by employees and employers.
3. The right to quality, affordable child and
elder care.
4. The right to a minimum wage set at a living
wage level and indexed to inflation.
5. The right to adequate health insurance for
all.
These rights shall apply to all regardless of
gender, race, ethnicity, age, place of birth,
religion, sexual orientation, or family, marital
or disability status.
FAMILY
AND MEDICAL LEAVE IS THREATENED
The Department of Labor (DOL)
plans to issue revised regulations for the Family
and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The DOL was originally
required to do so because of a recent Supreme
Court ruling in the case, Ragsdale v. Wolverine.
The ruling requires the DOL to revisit a narrow
– though important – portion of the
regulations dealing with when employers notify
employees about company leave policies. Now, FMLA
opponents – the very groups that fought
the original passage of the FMLA – are using
the occasion to exert strong pressure on the DOL
to make broad, sweeping changes to the law. Among
these are rollbacks in the rules on serious health
condition and intermittent leave. These changes
will adversely affect millions of employees, drastically
cutting back the illnesses for which employees
may take leave and forcing many to take more unpaid
leave than they need.
SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION
| Current Regulations | What FMLA Opponents Want | How Changes Will
Harm Millions of American Families |
| Current regulations define a serious health condition, in part, as a condition that requires more than three consecutive days of treatment and recovery. | FMLA opponents argue that this is “overbroad” and want the definition of serious health condition to exclude illnesses that require less than 10 days for treatment and recovery. | With this change, employees
who experience serious illnesses lasting
under 10 days could lose their jobs. For example, an employee with acute appendicitis may not be covered. Untreated, acute appendicitis is life threatening. This employee, with medical treatment, could be back at work in less than 10 days. |
INTERMITTENT LEAVE
| Current Regulations | What FMLA Opponents Want | How Changes Will
Harm Millions of American Families |
| Currently, FMLA leave may
be taken intermittently – as opposed
to one continuous block of leave –
when medically necessary. Whatever minimal time unit employers already use for tracking employee leave is the minimal time unit employers must use when allotting FMLA leave. |
FMLA opponents want to require that employees take leave for no less than a half-day at a time. | This change would force many
employees to take unnecessary leave without
pay. Employees who require frequent, short treatments, such as chemotherapy or pre-natal visits, will be forced to spend down their FMLA leave sooner than necessary, leaving them without adequate job-protection for medically necessary treatments and recovery time they require. |
Labor Family News is published quarterly by:Labor Project for Working Families
2521 Channing Way #5555
Berkeley, CA 94720
Ph: 510-643-7088
Fax: 510-642-6432
lpwf@berkeley.edu
www.working-families.org
Netsy Firestein
Editor
Jenya Cassidy
Managing Editor
Reprints Permitted With Acknowledgement. Call us for an email version.
