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:
NYC CLC President Vincent Alvarez and NYS AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento penned an OpEd this week in The Chief, highlighting the importance of the Labor Peace Law that went into effect in New York City in 2021.
Los Deliveristas Unidos (“LDU”) is a campaign by the Workers Justice Project, a collective of app-based delivery workers fighting justice and better working conditions.
Employees at REI's flagship store in Soho filed for a union election last Friday, making the outdoor equipment and apparel retailer the latest prominent service-industry employer whose workers have sought to unionize.
"Unlike most workers in the Empire State—and the rest of the country—New York’s farmworkers are currently denied overtime pay by New York law until they’ve worked 60 hours a week," writes Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) President Stuart Appelbaum in an OpEd published this wee
The Professional Staff Congress, which represents 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the CUNY Research Foundation, has launched a digital ad campaign calling on New Yorkers to contact their elected officials to support and fund the New Deal for CUNY.
This week, the Independent Drivers Guild (a Machinists Union affiliate that represents over 80,000 For-Hire Vehicle drivers in New York City) and The Black Car Fund joined forces to distribute COVID-19 home test kits to drivers at LaGuardia and JFK Airports.
AFM Local 802 musicians is continuing their series of livestreamed performances for NYC hospital workers and their patients. This is a union gig powered by Local 802, the NYC Mayor's Office for Media and Entertainment, and NYC Health + Hospitals.
Last week, quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard division Raven Software formed the first union at a major U.S. gaming company, comprising their 34-member unit.