Act Now to Save Family and Medical Leave

by James Parks, Jan 16, 2007

If a member of your family gets sick, you should be able to take time off from work to take care of them without being afraid of losing your job. That’s why Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 1993.

But the Bush administration’s Labor Department and Big Business have set their sights on FMLA. Right now, the Labor Department is asking for comments on the law, but many workers’ advocates believe that is just a first step toward revising the rules to make it harder to take FMLA leave.

The FMLA, for which AFL-CIO unions led the fight, allows employees to balance
their work and family life by taking up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a personal illness, the illness of a family member or for a new baby. It was the first piece of legislation President Bill Clinton signed after taking office.

You can act now to save FMLA. Join with Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, to let lawmakers and officials know how important it is for workers to be able to take time to care for a sick family member. Click here to tell your story about what the FMLA has meant to you, and Working America will send the information on to the Labor Department.

Here’s what C.J., a Working America member from Pennsylvania, had to say about Family and Medical Leave:

As a working woman, I have worked for 35 years caring for the elderly. I have raised a son and am now finding that my parents need more time and help with getting to medical appointments. As with many other workers in the same situation, this means missing work to help. We need laws to help us keep our jobs when illness happens.

In an AFL-CIO Point of View guest column last year, former 9to5, National Association of Working Women Director Ellen Bravo wrote:

Since it was passed in 1993, an estimated 50 million workers have been able to care for a loved one or recover from illness without being fired. At the same time, nearly nine in 10 employers report that the FMLA has had a positive effect or neutral effect on productivity and profits.

In 2005, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other Big Business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, launched a campaign to weaken the FMLA.

Michael Eastman, the chamber’s head of labor policy, said at the time of the campaign’s launch:

Changing FMLA…is our No. 1 priority right now in terms of labor issues. Business executives struggle continuously with the law’s requirements—what conditions qualify as ’serious,’ and tracking leave and verifying if it’s legitimate.

This year, the chamber already has sent out an action alert to its members urging them to send comments to the Labor Department.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)