While DC’s Paid Family Leave officially takes effect today, without funding, advocates warn that D.C. residents won’t be able to access benefits until after 2020. And having paid family leave can be the difference between life and death, says Kimberly White, a private security officer and member of SEIU 32BJ.
Kimberly’s 14-year-old son David has already been the hospital several times over the last year due to multiple sclerosis and seizures. “I thought David’s life and my life would change under the Universal Paid Leave law that provides eight weeks of paid parental leave, six weeks of paid family leave and two weeks of paid medical leave,” said Kimberly. “Little did I know that more than half a million workers in the District, including me, could be years away from these benefits and that they are in jeopardy of being out of reach for many of us.” The DC City Council is now delaying this program and attempting to replace it with a weaker version backed by corporate lobbyists. “Those of us who live below the poverty line desperately need a truly universal paid family leave program to ensure families struggling to make ends meet receive the support they need,” says Kimberly. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1947, some 300,000 members of the National Federation of Telephone Workers, soon to become the Communication Workers of America, struck AT&T and the Bell System. Within five weeks all but two of the 39 federation unions had won new contracts. And in 2000, fifteen thousand union janitors went out on strike in Los Angeles. Today’s labor quote is by Robert Acuna Farm worker Robert Acuna, who said “If I had enough money, I would take busloads of people out to the fields and into the labor camps. Then they’d know how that fine salad got on their table” Union City Radio is supported by UnionPlus, which is committed to improving the quality of life for all working families; find out more at unionplus.org.
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