“The series of regional forums convened by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over the last few weeks have shed welcome light on the programs and policies America’s working families, businesses and economy need. Today’s event in San Francisco promises to be a lively and informative discussion that continues this critically important national conversation, leading up to the White House Summit on Working Families on June 23.

California is an ideal place to discuss the need for public policies that support workers and their families. Thanks to the hard work of the California work and family coalition and forward-thinking policymakers in the state, California leads the nation in family friendly workplace policies. But workers in every state should be able to care for and provide financially for themselves and their loved ones. And that is why we must focus on improving and establishing national public policy standards.

I am honored to be speaking at the DOL event today, joining U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez as well as workers, businesses, academics, lawmakers and other advocates to discuss the challenges facing the nation’s families and workplaces, as well as the common sense policy solutions that would help tremendously. In particular, paid sick days, paid family and medical leave, and combating pay and pregnancy discrimination are of paramount importance.

We commend DOL and the administration for fostering this critical national dialogue and raising the profile of these essential issues. As plans for the Summit and other events come together, we look forward to specific attention to legislative proposals like the Healthy Families Act, the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would all go a long way toward providing the workplace support and protections workers and their families need and deserve.”