The Bad 3: In Plain English

This is a great short video explaining three initiatives that will be in the November ballot. As the title so clearly puts it, it explains it in plain English. Please remember to vote November 2nd. These three initiatives will severely cripple the state of Colorado if they pass. Thank you The Bell Policy Center and the Progress Now Colorado for creating this video. If this video inspires you to do more, 9to5 is still looking for canvassers to help make sure that these bad initiatives as well as 62 and 63 don't pass this election. You can check out the job description in our website: http://9to5.org/about/jobs

Welcome 9to5 Colorado's New ARRA Organizer: Jenny Santos!

9to5 Colorado Organizer Jenny Santos was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents -- Severa Casillas of La Noria de Molinos, Zacatecas and Juan Santos Acosta of El Refugio, Aguascalientes, México.

She comes to 9to5 with an open heart to help protect women’s rights in the workplace and to help bring economic justice to all people. Jenny’s desire to help struggling families comes from her own experiences. Her mother relocated to Denver, CO in the 1980s and suffered social and economic hardship as a recent immigrant. As early as age 5, Jenny was conscious that her purpose in life was to protect her people and the Earth from oppressive powers through the strength of God. She has worked to create systemic change to empower communities of color and believes that the people directly impacted by issues should be leading the efforts to create social justice.

Six years ago, Jenny and Michael Miera founded La Raza Youth Leadership, a program that empowers Latino youth to continue their education and build leadership skills. She is on the board of COLOR, (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights) an organization for Latinas and their families focused on providing education and advocacy for reproductive rights and quality healthcare. Jenny is also a danzante with Grupo Tlaloc Danza Azteca and believes in preserving the cultural traditions of her ancestors.

As a new organizer leading 9to5’s ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) efforts, Jenny will work to ensure that ARRA information reaches all communities and that women and people of color are well-represented in efforts to make ARRA and the new economy more inclusive.

Jenny can be reached at jenny [@] 9to5 [dot] org or (303) 628-0925.

9to5 Colorado Seeks Communications and Public Relations Intern

9to5, National Association of Working Women, in its fourth decade of strengthening women’s ability to win economic justice, is seeking a volunteer Communications and Public Relations Intern to augment its national media and new media work. Intern would work under the direction of the National Public Relations Coordinator and work collaboratively with other staff.

Position is based in 9to5’s Denver office.

Minimum requirement is 10-20 hours per week.

Tasks may include:

• Compiling and updating media lists
• Phone and email pitch work
• Exploring effective and appropriate social media to enhance organizing work
• Writing online content
• Other administrative tasks related to media outreach and social networking work

Required skills:

• Basic understanding of traditional and new media
• Competent writer
• Familiarity with Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr, blogging, etc.
• Good communicator
• Evidence of strong interest in women’s rights, policy issues, civil rights, social and economic justice
• Demonstrated ability to work well with diverse populations

Women of color, lesbian/bisexual/transgender women, women with disabilities and older women are encouraged to apply. Please send a letter of interest and/or resume to Rosemaryh [@] 9to5 [dot] org.

9to5 Colorado Needs Board Members!

9to5 Colorado needs a couple new board members! Please read the information below.

If you are interested in applying to be a board member, email a cover letter and resume to 9to5colorado [@] 9to5 [dot] org.

9to5, National Association of Working Women – Colorado Chapter

In 1973, a group of office workers in Boston got together to talk about issues which had no names: sexual harassment, work/family challenges, and pay equity. From this beginning, 9to5 emerged as the national organization dedicated to putting working women's issues on the public agenda. 9to5's constituents are low-wage women, women in traditionally female jobs, and those who've experienced any form of discrimination.

9to5's Colorado chapter was founded in 1996 and is dedicated to the issues that directly affect women in the workplace. We work to involve women in improving policies addressing pay equity, work/family issues, sexual harassment, discrimination, welfare, unemployment and protections for temporary and part-time workers.

Our mission is to build a movement to achieve economic justice, by engaging directly affected women to improve working conditions.

Our vision is an economically just world where poverty and discrimination have been eliminated, the contributions of women are recognized and valued, and all women and their families thrive.

9to5 is committed to:

• Winning family-friendly policies to help working people balance responsibilities at home and on the job.
• Making nonstandard jobs voluntary and equitable so that those who work part-time or as temps receive fair pay and benefits.
• Eliminating workplace discrimination through educating about legal rights on the job, monitoring enforcement agencies, and expanding anti-discrimination laws.
• Opposing punitive welfare policies and backing those that allow women to be self sufficient while supporting their families.
  

Board Members’ Responsibilities:

• All Board members should be familiar and agree with the purpose and goals of the organization, and fairly and accurately represent them to the public.
• Make every effort to attend and participate in regular Board meetings each month, emergency Board meetings, chapter events, activities and campaigns. If unable to attend a Board meeting, Board members should notify a Co-Chairwoman or staff member prior to the meeting if possible.
• Be familiar with issues that will come before the Board, and upon which you will be expected to make decisions for the organization. Read all material sent out by the chapter chair. Prepare reports on area of responsibility when assigned.
• Actively participate in fundraising activities and be responsible for reviewing fiscal policy.
• Participate in Board planning retreat and set goals and timelines for organization’s programs and activities.
• Be as visible as possible. Help build the organization by actively recruiting new members and training new leadership.
• Agree to abide by the Code of Ethics.

Code of Ethics For Chapter Members:

• Each Member is equally important. All opinions are welcome.
• Disagreement is healthy. We agree to express concerns or anger directly with each other and are willing to accept the feedback. We seek to do this in a caring, non-destructive way, avoiding generalizations, accusations, and abusive language. If necessary, the Co-Chairwomen of the Board and/or other Board Members may facilitate the discussion.
• We seek to create an atmosphere where everyone can contribute, where quiet members are encouraged and involved by others, where opinions and feelings are shared openly, and where no one person dominates the meeting.

9to5 Annual Leadership Conference a Success!

by Helen Bushnell, 9to5 member and activist

From April 24-27, I had the great opportunity to travel with the 9to5 Colorado Chapter to Washington, D.C. for the 9to5 Annual Leadership Conference and the Making it Work Conference, sponsored by the Family Values at Work Consortium and the National Partnership for Women and Families. The Making it Work Conference brought together activists from around the country, all working to pass workplace flexibility policies, like paid sick days, in their individual states and at the federal level.

All the events at both conferences were engaging, especially the small group activities at the 9to5 Annual Leadership Conference on Sunday. I met people from all over the country. Some of them are facing some of the same difficulties that I am. Avis Williams, a member from California, retired early a few years ago. Like me, she is now trying to get back into the US workforce after having been away from it for a while. Like me, she is not finding it easy.

Other people have different challenges. Christina DeHaro, a member from California, is a single mother who struggles with a climate that is hostile to children. She know helps single mothers speak to California’s legislators about the support that they and their children need.

Probably the most empowering part of the conference came at the end on Tuesday when all of Colorado’s members were filling the conference room in Senator Bennet’s office to talk with a staff member about work-family balance and passing legislation that helps working families. Through the Making It Work Conference, we were joined by other organizations from the Paid Sick Days Colorado Coalition. Both Bridget Kaminetsky, 9to5 staff member, and LaTerrell Bradford, 9to5 board member, talked about their personal experiences. They compared the benefits of having paid sick days with the fear that comes from being sick and not having them.

One of the participants at Monday’s Making It Work Conference mentioned that the biggest benefit to having paid sick days is not having to worry about losing her job.

I am grateful for having had the opportunity to meet people from all over the country and hear their stories, and I look forward to continued work with the 9to5 Colorado Chapter to pass paid sick days for all workers!

More Than Cards and Flowers, Mom Needs Paid Time Off

Gloria Dennis had been employed by a college in the Midwest for three years when she became pregnant. She took leave after the birth of her daughter Alicia Rae — 12 weeks, unpaid. Her co-workers showered the family with welcoming gifts. But as a new mom, what she really wanted was paid time off to care for her baby.

“My greatest joy would’ve been to stay home for a year. But there’s just no way we could have afforded that.” Instead, she took the 12 weeks unpaid leave and pieced together a total of 14 weeks by using sick days and vacation time, hoping all the while that the family had no emergencies and that no one got sick.

The predicament they faced is all too common for American families.

Most countries provide at least 10 weeks of paid leave for new mothers. Some countries provide up to a year. Only four provide no paid parental leave at all — and the United States is one of them.

But all moms should be able to stay home to care for a new baby and there is no time like the season that celebrates mothers to push paid family leave to the front burner.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was a significant step forward for working families because it granted workers the right to take up to 12 weeks off to care for a new child or take care of a sick family member. Unfortunately, it also had several limitations. It applies only to workplaces with 50 or more employees, there are lots of restrictions on its use, and, worst of all, it provides only for unpaid leave. Many families cannot afford to take FMLA leave because they cannot afford the loss of income that would result.

Even for those workers who get some compensation during maternity leave — and about 16% of companies provide it — the norm tends to be a patchwork of unused sick or vacation days and a significant chunk of time unpaid, despite the obvious benefits of paid leave.

Paid family leave improves infant health. Babies have more bonding time during the period of critical early development and their mothers are more able to breastfeed, reducing childhood illness and the risk of childhood obesity. Paid family leave and time off before returning to work is also healthier for mothers.

There are benefits of paid leave beyond even motherhood. Paid family leave allows seniors and the chronically ill to be independent longer, recover faster, and stay out of nursing homes. Studies show that businesses also benefit from paid leave because it reduces turnover costs and helps workers stay attached to their jobs.

In these tough economic times, everyone is compromised by the lack of paid family leave in the U.S.

But there’s hope.

The legislatures of five states are currently exploring the possibility of employee-funded arrangements that would provide compensation to take time off to care for an ill family member or to bond with a new child. In addition, President Obama’s 2011 budget would establish a $50 million State Paid Leave Fund within the Department of Labor that would provide competitive grants to help states cover start-up costs. The Budget also provides resources to improve the collection of data related to the intersection of work and family responsibilities. It must be approved.

We get mixed messages about women, work, and family. We believe it’s in a child’s best interest to be with mother when they’re very young and we also believe it’s the responsibility of both parents to contribute to the economic well being of families. Still, we continue to hold back from putting policies in place that allow women like Gloria Dennis, who now has a second child on the way, to succeed in both the workplace and at home.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, isn’t it time to enact policies that provide support for mothers – and fathers – who want to be both good parents and effective family breadwinners?

Isn’t it time America had a paid parental leave policy?

Linda Meric is Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women.

Closing the wage gap

Today, April 20, people across Colorado, and the nation, will observe Equal Pay Day 2010 - representing the point when women's wages finally catch up to men's wages from last year.

According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, women who work in full-time, year-round jobs earn, on average, 77 cents to every $1 earned by men working in full-time, year-round jobs.

For women of color, the wage gap is even wider. In 2008, the earnings for African American women were 67.9 percent of men's earnings and Latinas" earnings were 58 percent of men's.

In Colorado, women's earnings generally exceed the national average by a penny or so. But this is no great cause for celebration - especially in these tough times when every penny counts. As those lost pennies add up, women and their families are being shortchanged thousands of dollars a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

Reaching pay equity means more now than ever before.

According to the Center for American Progress report, "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything," women are now the breadwinner or co-breadwinner in two-thirds of all American families. With more women in the workforce, and more families reliant upon women's paychecks to make ends meet, it's clear to see how all of us - women and men - have such a huge stake in eliminating the wage gap.

The good news is that there are pending state and federal actions that would positively impact the pay gap now.

In Colorado, we're working to establish a permanent state Pay Equity Commission. Nationally, we are hopeful for the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The statewide effort grows from the nonpartisan Colorado Pay Equity Commission, created in 2007. That Commission brought a diverse group of stakeholders together to analyze the pay gap and identify solutions. One of the key recommendations was to create a permanent Pay Equity Commission to further focus on the problem, monitor pay equity progress and work toward solutions in the state. It's anticipated that a proposal to do so will be introduced this year.

Nationally, women were earning a mere 59 cents for every $1 a man earned when the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963. Enforcement of the Equal Pay Act, and other civil rights laws, has helped narrow the wage gap, but huge disparities remained. In 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act was signed into law, helping ensure that victims of discrimination have fair access to the courts. But we're not there yet.

Additional steps are needed.

One such step, the Paycheck Fairness Act, would close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, enhance remedies, prohibit retaliation against workers who share wage information, and provide the government with new tools to monitor and address pay inequities. Passage is critical -- particularly in these economically perilous times when the self-sufficiency of women and their families is so at risk.

LaTerrell Bradford - a Denver woman who testified about pay inequity before the Colorado Legislature - calls equal pay a "non-negotiable." She was working as part of an all-female support team when a man was hired in the same job classification. Her supervisor - a woman - discovered that he was to earn much more than any of the women were presently earning. She went to human resources and the company agreed to pay everyone at that higher rate. "It would not have been fair," Bradford says, "nor legal, to sit next to him, do the exact same work and have him be paid more."

Are women workers really worth less than men? Any American of good conscience would say "no." We must ensure that our laws and workplace practices say "no" as well by ensuring family-flexible workplace policies, basic labor standards like paid sick days and, yes, an end to the wage gap.

Women and their families just cannot afford to wait any longer. We must tighten wage disparity laws now to ensure equity for every worker.

Linda A. Meric is National Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women.