Workplaces Must Adapt to Greater Role of Women In Workforce
A new Center for American Progress (CAP) report released in time for International Women’s Day today offers practical solutions to help America’s workers and families meet the dual demands of work and family. (Read the full report here.)
The report, “Our Working Nation: How Working Women Are Reshaping America’s Families and Economy and What It Means for Policymakers,” calls for:
- Updating basic labor standards to recognize that most workers also have family responsibilities and need predictable and flexible workplace schedules,access to paid family and medical leave the right to paid sick days.* Improving basic fairness in our workplace by ending discrimination against all workers, including pregnant women and caregivers.
- Providing direct support to working families with child care and elder care needs.
- Improving knowledge about family-responsive workplace policies by collecting national data on work-life policies offered by employers and analyzing the effectiveness of existing state and local policies.
International Women’s Day, March 8: Time to Recommit to Equal Rights
Women make up more than half the American workforce and are approaching half of union members. On International Women’s Day, March 8, the AFL-CIO is recommitting itself to continue the struggle for equal rights, dignity and respect for all working women.
This past week, the AFL-CIO Executive Council pointed out that much needs to be done for women workers to gain equal footing. For example, the council cites a United Nations report, which shows the majority of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor are women. On average, women receive between 30 percent and 40 percent less pay than men earn for the same work. Women also continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.
AFL-CIO Urges Stricter Bank Bailout Process, Hails NEA Affiliations
The AFL-CIO Executive Council wrapped up its winter meeting in Miami today, calling for stricter regulation and oversight of the financial industry, urging President Obama to ensure that taxpayers get “fair value” for any additional funds used to bail out the nation’s banks, authorizing continuation of discussions on unifying the labor movement and urging adoption of a global charter of rights for working women.
Also today, the AFL-CIO and the National Education Association (NEA) announced that three more NEA local chapters, with more than 3,000 members, have affiliated with the AFL-CIO under the Solidarity Partnership program. The program is supported by AFT, a long-time AFL-CIO affiliate.
Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
These affiliations show that we are unified and committed to fighting for quality education in our nation’s classrooms.
