When Mom's a Fed

Another call to action, this time from MomsRising.org, a group that I believe started as an off-shoot of MoveOn.org when after the 2004 election MoveOn did a survey of members to find what issues they were passionate about and found a group of members interested in bringing important motherhood and family issues to the forefront of the country's awareness and working to create both cultural and legislative change.

The U.S. government employs over 2.7 million people, but it's not a family-friendly employer. Did you know that the U.S. government doesn't offer their employees any paid parental leave days after the birth or adoption of a new child? Not one day.

Federal employees are essentially employed by each of us--after all, our taxes pay those salaries and we elect the “bosses.” That means that you have the power, with your vote, to be the type of employer who supports families and a family friendly country -- and you can start working to make that happen right now:

Tell your Congressperson today to support the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act:
http://www.momsrising.org/Federal_FamilyLeave

Then pass this message along to friends so they can tell their Congressperson too.

The Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 5781)[1] would give all federal employees 4 weeks of paid parental leave. When we pass HR 5781, over 2.7 million workers in the United States will have the right to paid parental leave, and we will be setting a standard for the rest of the nation to follow. It is expected to be up for a full House vote soon, so contact your Congressperson now!

The federal government should be setting the national standard for creating truly family-friendly workplaces. Instead, it is forcing its own workers, the very civil servants we rely on, to choose between family and a paycheck.

Tell your Congressperson today to support the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act:
http://www.momsrising.org/Federal_FamilyLeave

Thank you!
--Kristin, Joan, Katie, and the MomsRising.org Team

Thank you to the National Partnership for Women and Families, as well as the bill's sponsors listed below, for their work on this issue.

1. Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 5781) was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) to provide all federal employees 4 weeks of paid parental leave. The bill just passed out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee with the support of Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Chairman Danny Davis (D-IL). It is expected to be up for a full House vote in the next couple of weeks.

For more information see : http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=263&parent=21&Itemid=35.

This is the same organization that is asking women to send Senator McCain their resumes in response to his statement after the failure of the Fair Pay Act in the Senate that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need "education and training." Awesome.

Edited to Add 5/17/2008:
Unnamed Former Coworker: parental leave... what are you not telling us ma'am? :) i would be a good babysitter by the way.
Sarah: (A) I am no longer a federal employee, so this is really about supporting YOU and your coworkers who might want to have kids some day. So the question really is are you not telling me something? :)
(B) I am not pregnant.
(C) I will not contemplate endeavoring to become pregnant until after I pass the California Bar Exam in February 2009 at LEAST.
(D) I will take your babysitting offer under advisement.

"I thank the pernicious commentators for giving me an opportunity to shed more light on this issue." - Ali Eteraz

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