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:
Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria have had devastating effects on communities of working people, displacing families and bringing operations to a halt in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
New York now leads the nation in ensuring that working families have access to Paid Family Leave.
Thank you to everyone who marched, danced, and rode up Fifth Avenue on Saturday!
On Monday afternoon, thousands of union workers from across NYC poured across the Brooklyn Bridge in an impressive display of solidarity with our IBEW Local 3 brothers and sisters who have been on strike for nearly six months.
The Broadway Presbyterian Church was packed on Wednesday morning as GWC-UAW Local 2110, the union of Columbia University’s graduate workers and teaching assistants, held a forum about their campaign.
On Thursday, organized labor in digital media counted a major victory.
Two weeks ago, long-time Teamster Local 813 member Eber Garcia Vasquez was deported. The Teamsters are continuing to work with his attorney and advocates to expedite his Green Card application so he can return to the U.S. and be reunited with his family.
On Wednesday evening, the NYC CLC hosted our first Community Board 101 training. Community boards play an important role in our city, providing a space for neighborhood concerns and priorities to be addressed within communities; however, many citizens know little about them.
This November, New Yorkers will be asked whether or not to hold a Convention to amend our state’s constitution. Important labor protections like collective bargaining, prevailing wage, workers' compensation, and public pensions would be on the chopping block.