Parents for Paid Leave

Very Few American Workers Have Paid Family Leave

While it's not surprising information, seeing it in chart form really hits home how very few American workers have access to paid family leave.  The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) just released an easy-to-read fact sheet on paid sick and family leave.  In short, they found that while more and more employers are offering paid sick leave, very few are including paid family leave. 

In fact, on average, 7% of employees have access to paid leave, across all employers.   Workers in larger companies (those with more employees) don't necessarily fare better than those in small, with the exception being very small employers (<5 staff) who are less likely to offer it.  This fact sheet shows very clearly why a state-level program is required.  Left to employers, this benefit is not being made available, nor is there a trend to do so. 

See the fact sheet here.

Action Alert: Please call your Senators

While the focus of this group's efforts are primarily passing paid family leave in Oregon, we also support any paid leave bill at the federal level that will help Oregon families and lead to more universal national coverage.  That is why we support the The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (S. 3140). This bill would allow federal employees to be paid for 4 (potentially up to 8) weeks of leave after giving birth to or adopting a new child or to care for a sick loved one.  This bill, while only providing the benefit to federal employees, would be a great example to states trying to pass their own bills (like us), offer some national momentum on this issue, and serve as a model to companies that try to offer competitive benefits. 

The bill already passed in the House with major support, and will be voted on very soon in the Senate.  So, it is time for us to make calls or write emails to our Senators to encourage them to both support and co-sponsor this bill.  It is so important for them to hear our voices at this critical point. Thank you.

For Oregonians, here's how to do it:

Call (just your closest office) or email Senator Ron Wyden at:
Portland: (503) 326-7525
Eugene: (541) 431-0229
La Grande: (541) 962-7691
Medford: (541) 858-5122
Bend: (541) 330-9142
Salem: (503) 589-4555

Call (just your closest office) or email Senator Gordon Smith at:
Portland: 503.326.3386
Eugene: 541.465.6750
Medford: 541.608.9102
Bend: 541.318.1298
Pendleton: 541.278.1129

Here's what you can say/write:

Senator, I am one of your constituents and my zip code is xxxxx.  The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (S. 3140) will be up for a vote in the Senate soon, and I urge you to support this bill by co-sponsoring it.  The bill would offer 4 weeks of paid leave to federal employees after they have a child or in the event they need to care for a sick loved one.  It is an important first step towards national, family-friendly, paid leave legislation.  I hope that you will support this bill and future efforts to make paid leave available to all your constituents.  Thank you.

Spread the word: Distribute a (dozen) flyers

Grassroots advocacy definitely takes a village, and we hope you'll be part of ours.  Got a favorite coffee shop?  A bulletin board in the office kitchen?  These are terrific places to post our flyer,  letting more and more families know that we are working hard to pass paid family leave in Oregon - and would love their help! 

Another great way to spread the word is by leaving a flyer on people's front doorsteps.  Grab the kids and take a walk around the neighborhood - yours or anyone else's!!  It's simple.  Just download the flyer, below, print out as many as you can handle and start passing them around.  I always have a few hands in my purse, the car, the diaper bag, so I'm ready when an opportunity presents itself.  Questions?  Want to tell us where you've left them?  Email us, we'd love to hear from you! 

And thanks.  This is important stuff and we can use all the help we can get.
Download doortodoor_flyer_final_july_08.doc

Please Support Us By Joining our Mailing List

We want to get paid family leave for all Oregon families.  To do this, we need a good show of grassroots support.  If you support paid family leave for Oregon, please sign up on our mailing list.  This will help us when we meet with legislators to show how many folks throughout the state support this kind of legislation.  We promise not to email you often, only when we feel like there's something going on you have to know about.

We've had some questions about whether non-parents should join our efforts.  The answer: definitely!  Paid family leave is not only something for parents welcoming a new child into their lives; it is also a program designed to help those who need to take time off work to care for a sick loved one - or themselves!  So, please join us.  It will take all of us to make paid family leave available to Oregonians.

Please, if you live in Oregon, help support this effort by signing up on our mailing list - and feel free to tell your friends and family about our list too.   Thank you!

Meeting on Saturday 7.12.08 at 9:30 am

Please join us for our  Parents for Paid Leave meeting this Saturday, July 12th at 9:30 am.  We'd love to hear your ideas about what paid leave in Oregon should look like.

 

Where? Urban Grind NE, 2214 NE Oregon.  Kids are always welcome.

We'll also be calling our Senators to ask them to co-sponsor bill S. 3140, which would require 4-weeks of paid leave for federal employees.

Hope to see you there!

Urge Your Senators to Support Paid Leave for Federal Employees

We were thrilled when H.R. 5871 passed through the house with a major majority.  This little bill, asking for 4-weeks of paid parental leave for all federal employees is moving along quickly and will soon be voted on by the Senate.  So, we're asking you again to please call your senators and encourage them to support this bill by co-sponsoring it. 

We know that this is a bill that will only affect federal employees, and that 4-weeks if far from resembling progressive legislation.  But, it's a start.  For now, it remains the only paid leave bill to have gotten this far along at the federal level.  And we hope that if the federal government mandates leave for it’s employees, a bill mandating the same (or better!) for the rest of us can’t be far behind. 

So, please call your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor this bill.  You can simply say: "I live in (your state), my zip code is *****, and I wanted to urge you to co-sponsor Senate bill 3140 which is calling for 4-weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees.  I’m glad to finally see legislation aimed at supporting some of America’s families, and I hope that in the future paid family leave will be available to all of us."

If you live in Oregon, here's who you call:
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Phone: (202) 224-3753

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Phone: (202) 224-5244

If you live outside Oregon, you can go here to find contact information for your Senators.

H.R. 5781 Passes in the House!

The House of Representatives voted yes to giving federal employees 4 weeks of paid family leave: 277 Ayes and 146 Nays (10 not voting).  Perhaps this represents one small step towards paid family leave for all American families.  We hope so.

Paid Family Leave for Federal Workers: Help Make It a Reality

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a paid parental leave bill for federal workers on 6.19.08.  Currently, federal employees have no paid parental family leave.

NOW is the time to speak UP!!  Urge your Representative to vote YES on this parental leave bill.  It's simple to send a quick e-mail, or - better yet - ring her up!  You can get your Representative's phone number here (and if you don't know who your Representative is, no worries, just enter your zip code here to find out).  All you have to say is your name, the city where you live, and that you urge a yes vote on H.R. 5781, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act.  Let her know how important this issue is to American families, and of course add your personal story if it's a good fit. 

About the Bill.  The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act would provide federal workers up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, and will be a good first step towards paid paternal leave for all Americans.  Read a non-partisan bill summary here.

Dad's Need Paid Leave Too!

This group, and some of our "Dads for Paid Leave", were featured in this Father's Day piece in the Oregonian.  They did a great job of illustrating why it's so important for dads to also have time off when a new baby is born or adopted.  These dads managed to take time off the same way mom's do, with a combination of vacation, sick-time, and unpaid leave.  But in many cases, their situations were far from ideal.  However, they each felt the time off contributed to their long-term relationship with their children, and academic research supports this idea.  So for Father's Day this year, give your dad or partner a gift that will benefit all dads (and dads-to-be): become involved in the movement towards paid family leave.

Call Your Congressperson Play Date

Our Call Your Congressperson Play Date is nearly here.  We will be meeting tomorrow (June 14th) at 10 am at Urban Grind East (NE 22nd Ave & Oregon Street - just 2 blocks north of Sandy Blvd).  You can bring your kids, and your cell phone (if you have one).  We'll be making three quick calls, but would also love to fill you in on the progress of paid leave in our state. 

If you can't make it tomorrow, you can find the call scripts and phone numbers here.  Please call from wherever you are, and ask anyone you know to do the same.  We'd like to see moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, neighbors and friends making the calls.  After all, paid leave affects all of us.

Thank you for your support of this important issue!