Work and Family
Although the “traditional” family—a father who works outside the home and financially supports the children and a mother whose work is keeping the house and raising the children—has been disappearing for more than a generation, our workplaces and government policies have not kept pace with America’s new reality.
Most children are growing up in homes with both parents working or with single parents. One-third of workers don’t have access to paid sick leave, and only 42 percent have paid personal leave. What’s the impact on public health when working people can’t afford to take sick days during a flu epidemic? Who takes care of a sick child? Who’s home to fix dinner and help with homework? Who can dedicate time to a sick elderly parent?
The recession and jobless recovery have complicated life further for working families, when having to leave work for a family emergency could lead to long-term unemployment.
More about this issue:
This Wednesday and Thursday, graduate student employees at The New School took a unionization vote. The eligible workforce is made up of teaching assistants, teaching fellows, and research assistants.
On Wednesday, the New York State AFL-CIO facilitated a training for union members, officers, and staff on Labor’s opposition to a Constitutional Convention.
On Saturday, members of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 9, lent their time and labor to a good cause as part of a Community Day of Action.
This week, Spectrum/Time Warner workers, members of IBEW Local 3, remain on strike.
Every twenty years, New York State is required to give voters the option, via a ballot question, of opening up the State’s constitution in a convention.
This afternoon we stood with the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York to commemorate 100 years of service protecting the men and women of New York City, and to remember the hardworking firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,800 Local #3 IBEW members at Charter/Spectrum Communications are out on strike.
On Wednesday, Writers Guild of America, East, announced that content creators at Thrillist had voted to join the union. After weeks of refusing to recognize the staff’s union, management agreed to collectively bargain following a 24-hour online vote.
NYC CLC Executive Board member Julie Kushner is the director of UAW Region 9A.
Julie Kushner has been a union activist and leader for more than 30 years.
This week, the NYC CLC, District Council 37, and Teamsters Local 237 joined with elected officials, housing advocates, and community members to rally at City Hall against federal budget cuts that would significantly defund the New York City Housing Authority.