Maine Women’s Lobby - Maine Women's Lobby Blog

Archive for the ‘Maine Women’s Lobby’ Category

26 May 2011

Your voting rights are under attack! Right now, the Maine Legislature is considering LD 1376, “An Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voter Registration and Election Process.” Integrity? Don’t be fooled by the misleading title of this bill. LD 1376 does nothing but limit Maine voters’ access to their fundamental right to vote. LD [...]

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Jobz v. skool

In: Charlotte Warren|Helpful Links|Labor|Maine Women's Lobby|Women's Leadership

25 May 2011

Last week, the legislature voted to pass an amended version of L.D. 516 – increasing the number of hours a teen can work during the school week. The amended bill represents a very significant improvement over the initial bill that, as written, would have removed all hourly protections for teen workers, but – to be [...]

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Tags: child labor

Put Focus Where It’s Needed

In: Laura Harper|Maine State House|Maine Women's Lobby

19 May 2011

Adults need jobs. Teens need success in school to make a good living down the road. Statement of Laura Harper Director of Public Policy, Maine Women’s Lobby “Last night the Maine House passed an amended version of L.D. 516, a roll back on teen work hour protections. The bill increases the hours teens can work [...]

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Tags: child labor, L.D. 516

Here’s the skinny

18 May 2011

Feeling blue about the state of affairs in Augusta these days? I hear ya (although it might also be the rain). That’s why I’m writing to you today. Believe it or not, we have A LOT to celebrate. Thanks to you, and your calls, emails, and visits to the State House we have – together [...]

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Child Labor Sneak Attack

In: Labor|Maine Women's Lobby

9 May 2011

You did it. You called, you emailed, you wrote letters, you testified, you lobbied – and on Friday, Maine’s Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee listened. The committee unanimously killed L.D. 1346 – “An Act to Enhance Access to the Workplace for Minors.” This is the bill that would have repealed hourly protections for [...]

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Tags: Augusta, child labor

A Mother’s Day Pledge

In: Maine Women's Lobby|Paid sick days

9 May 2011

I hope that you and your favorite moms were able to celebrate moms and the amazing work they do! Check out this fantastic “Mothers Day Pledge” from our coalition – Family Values at Work. A young single mom of three is fired for taking a day off to care for her sick child. A new [...]

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Tags: Family Values at Work, mom, mother's day

Bill Would Endanger Health of Maine Teens

In: Maine Women's Lobby|Reproductive Health

25 Apr 2011

We can all agree that open parent-to-child communication around health decisions is ideal. Unfortunately, for many families this is not the reality. There is no law we could pass, no policy we could implement that would create good communication between kids and their parents where it does not already exist. A teen may feel uncomfortable [...]

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Equal Pay Day: Keeping an Eye on Augusta

In: Equal Pay|Fair Pay|Maine State House|Maine Women's Lobby

12 Apr 2011

It’s Equal Pay Day! What’s that? This day represents the amount of time into 2011 it took women in the United States to work (600 extra hours!) to catch up with what men earned in 2010. Well, I hate to state the obvious but, it has been a long time since January 1st. While working [...]

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What Would Frances Perkins Say?

In: Labor|Maine State House|Maine Women's Lobby

28 Mar 2011

Friday marked the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in which 146 people, many of them teen girls, were burned or jumped to their deaths because of a fire made fatal by inadequate workplace protections. The doors to the factory were locked. Also Friday, more than one hundred people commemorated that fire by [...]

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Tags: Frances Perkins

Parents struggle to juggle sick kids, jobs

20 Mar 2011

An impressive article in the Cincinnati Enquirer described the impact lack of paid sick days has on kids, parents, and the economy. “Batavia School District Nurse Cathy Meyer often finds herself tangling with parents over sending their kids to school sick. And the students don’t just have the sniffles. One day last month, three kids [...]