Vicki Shabo
Workplace Support a Critical Step Toward Eliminating Poverty

Contagion: Not Just a Movie

On the heels of the release of the new blockbuster Contagion — a frightening film about a global flu pandemic — our coalition partner Family Values @ Work has compiled real-life stories about how the flu and other illnesses can spread, particularly when more than 44 million workers in the United States have no paid sick days to use when they become ill or injured.

Workplace Support a Critical Step Toward Eliminating Poverty

The Good, the Bad and the Hope for Breastfeeding Rights

Roughly four million women give birth in the United States every year – and most choose to breastfeed (74 percent). After all, the nutritional value of breast milk is well documented. Numerous studies show that breastfeeding protects mothers and children from a range of acute and chronic health conditions. But with two-thirds of today’s working women returning to work within three months of giving birth, the lack of supportive workplace policies and laws is forcing too many nursing mothers to quit breastfeeding early – or never start.

Workplace Support a Critical Step Toward Eliminating Poverty

It’s Time for a Family Friendly America

Mother’s Day. It’s a day when we shower the mothers in our lives with well-deserved compliments and gifts that show our appreciation. The heartfelt thanks, expressed in cards, flowers and chocolates, certainly have their place, but mothers today also need something much more lasting – policies that let them meet their own needs and those of their families.

Workplace Support a Critical Step Toward Eliminating Poverty

Paid Sick Days Standards Promote LGBT Health

As we near the end of LGBT Health Awareness Week — a time to focus on eliminating the health disparities and health care discrimination faced by the LGBT community — we cannot forget the role that access to health care plays in promoting the health and well-being of LGBT workers and their families.

Workplace Support a Critical Step Toward Eliminating Poverty

Anniversary a Time to Commit to a New Wave of Workplace Reforms

Locked doors. It’s one of the many reasons that 146 workers – mainly young immigrant women – died in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City 100 years ago today. Even though great progress has been made since then, workers today are trapped by a different kind of locked door: public and workplace policies that too often are unfair and force workers to make impossible choices between their caregiving responsibilities and their economic security.