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 clear – it still represents a roll back to workplace protections for teens.

Read below for a statement from Laura Harper, our Director of Public Policy, on the vote:

“This law will take Maine in the wrong direction. At a time when Maine desperately needs to be creating jobs and a skilled workforce, we are undermining student success.

“Volumes of research demonstrate that once teens work over 20 hours a week, drop-out rates and even substance abuse rates increase. Further, studies show that the more hours teens work the more likely it is that their grades will decline.

“Adults need jobs. Teens need success in school to make a good living down the road. We urge lawmakers to put focus where it’s needed—creating jobs, increasing access to education, and sparking economic growth that will benefit kids, families, and our state.”

You can read her whole statement here.

The silver lining: We were successful in defeating L.D. 1346 (a bill that would have both increased the total number of hours a teen could work and create a sub-minimum wage for teen workers) and greatly modifying L.D. 516.

The truth: We couldn’t have done it without you! You and your friends, and your friends’ friends, sent a total of 860 emails and petition signatures, made phone calls, and showed up to the public hearings.

Your action helped kill L.D. 1346, and make L.D. 516 less extreme. So, THANK YOU!

Click here to check out some of the fantastic news coverage of the campaign (including some goodies from Rachel Maddow, and our own Laura Harper in the Huffington Post).

And, please take a minute right now to check out how your Senator and Representative voted on L.D. 516, and share your appreciation – or disapproval.

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 – successfully defeated (and in some cases diminished) a myriad of dangerous roll-back proposals.

Here’s the skinny:

Child Labor: L.D. 1346, a bill to implement a sub-minimum wage for teen workers and eliminate hour-caps on teen labor during the school week, was killed in committee. L.D. 516, a bill to increase the number of hours a week a teen can work, is currently awaiting action in the House, but with much less drastic language. We still must work hard to defeat this bill but this amendment points us in the right direction.

Safe Chemicals: Attempts to roll back Maine’s Kid-Safe Products act were defeated, as lawmakers reached an agreeable compromise. And, the ban on the toxic chemical BPA was passed with near-unanimous support from the legislature and without the Governor’s signature!

Human Rights: The Judiciary Committee voted Friday “ought not to pass” on a bill to roll back human rights protections for transgendered Mainers – leaving Maine’s Human Rights Act intact! We still need to work hard to hold the line on the floor vote.

Reproductive Freedom: On Friday, the Judiciary Committee also voted “ought not to pass” on four anti-choice bills: a bill requiring parental consent for contraception, one requiring parental consent for abortion, one requiring a 24-hour waiting period, and one that would require doctors to read a biased and coercive script to a patient 24 hours before she could obtain an abortion. This vote was a victory for Maine’s longstanding, bipartisan tradition of reproductive privacy.

So, we have a lot to celebrate, AND a lot of work left to do.

Despite the good news for reproductive freedom reported out of the Judiciary Committee on Friday, we expect a contentious floor debate on all four of these anti-choice bills. Believe me, our lobbyist is working hard, but she needs your help!

Please email your legislator now and tell them to vote NO on all four of these anti-choice bills.

Your calls and emails have gotten us this far, so keep them coming.

The time to protect Maine’s women’s reproductive freedom and privacy is now. ]]> http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2011/05/heres-the-skinny/feed/ 0 http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2011/03/joint-resolution-recognizing-international-womens-day/ http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/2011/03/joint-resolution-recognizing-international-womens-day/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:32:02 +0000 asheldon http://www.mainewomen.org/blogs/?p=2482 Last Thursday, the Maine House read and adopted a Joint Resolution Recognizing International Women’s Day on March 8th. This week it’s on the Senate’s docket. Here’s what they are considering:

WHEREAS, March 8, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, a globalcelebration of the economic, social and political achievements of women; and

WHEREAS,  women are achieving at the highest levels of economic, cultural and political life.The percentage of women working in management, business and finance jobs has increased from 9% to14% since 1983; and

WHEREAS,  women in the United States are enrolled in greater numbers than men in bothundergraduate and graduate institutions and they now comprise about 1/2 of the workforce. Women arethe breadwinners or cobreadwinners in 2/3 of American households. As women’s earnings have risen, sohas the wellbeing of families; and

WHEREAS,  as our workforce has been transformed, so too have the highest echelons ofleadership. The vast majority of Americans, 89%, describe themselves as comfortable with women asleaders in all sectors of society; and

WHEREAS,  despite this progress, significant challenges remain. There continues to be anearnings gap between women and men. At all levels of education, women earned about 75% of what theirmale counterparts earned in 2009, are overrepresented in lowpaying jobs, are more likely than men to livein poverty and carry disproportionate responsibility for care of children and adult family members; and

WHEREAS,  women are more likely than men to suffer from sexual victimization and intimatepartner violence; and

WHEREAS,  women are significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering andmath, which are areas of significant importance to Maine’s economic development; and

WHEREAS,  we must seize the opportunity to build on our collective progress and create a futurein which women and girls have every opportunity to succeed and to thrive; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED: That We, The Members of the One Hundred and Twentyfifth Legislature nowassembled in the First Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this opportunity todeclare March 8 as International Women’s Day in Maine. We encourage the people of Maine to celebratethis day with programs and activities that honor the history and accomplishments of Maine women andwill create a more equitable future.

You can find the text here

No kidding.

L.D. 516 would permit employers to hire teen workers and schedule them for unlimited hours during the school year.

Representatives from Governor LePage’s Department of Labor testified in favor of a bill to roll-back wage and hour protections for Maine youth.

That’s right. It’s just another in a host of bills aimed at taking us back to the bad old days when there were few laws or regulations aimed at protecting the health of Maine children.

Let’s not go there. Please contact your legislators and the Governor today.

Maine’s Child Labor Laws were first enacted in 1847, and strengthened repeatedly over the years. The reason? Educators saw that the students forced to work long hours outside of school were falling asleep in class.

The current law limiting working hours for 16 and 17 year-olds was forged in 1991 through bipartisan agreement about the need to balance employer interests with the health and welfare of Maine children.

Today, one former teacher testified about two of her students who worked more than 20 hours a week permitted by law. They were worn out. Distracted. And – no surprise – their grades suffered.

Gutting child labor laws does nothing to increase jobs. In fact it will do just the opposite: obstruct students’ success in school, and put their occupational aspirations at risk. It will harm their future.

Contact your legislators – and the Governor – right now and ask them not to  take us back 20 years.

Tell them passing this bill is unconscionable. It will take us back to the days when students are struggling to stay awake in class.

That’s important to remember, particularly now, as states and cities grapple with enormous fiscal challenges, and everyone must sacrifice to meet those challenges. The public employees who are critical to our communities — from nurses to teachers to firefighters and police officers — have made and will continue to make sacrifices to help close budget gaps. But some state leaders have gone too far in the process. Budget sacrifices are one thing; demanding that workers give up their rights as union members — to take away their voice — is another.

Read the whole piece here.

“Not only does a healthy democracy require diversity in order to be truly representative, but solving the tough problems that Maine currently faces will require leadership, experience, wisdom, and drawing upon all of our resources,” said Charlotte Warren, Associate Director. “Going forward, we urge Governor LePage to make a special effort to recruit and consider women at every level. He should do so in the interest of equality—and because ALL Maine people will benefit by policy decisions influenced by diverse voices. Ultimately, we hope to see a Cabinet that is more representative of the population it serves.”

Read all about it, in this press release we sent out today

CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is a landmark international agreement that affirms principles of fundamental human rights and equality for women around the world. CEDAW strengthens the United States as a global leader in standing up for women and girls in countries around the world.

One of the witnesses at the hearing will be an international activist who uses CEDAW in her home country of Afghanistan to push for progress for women and girls – and she will express her frustration that the U.S. has yet to ratify this important human rights treaty.  This hearing underscores the importance of the U.S. ratifying CEDAW and remaining a world leader on human rights issues and is an important first step towards holding a VOTE on CEDAW!

We know that when the United States ratifies CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) it will strengthen us a leader in standing up for women and girls around the world.  We know that Women’s Rights are Human Rights!  We know that we need action from our leaders in Washington, D.C., not just talk.  That’s why we won’t let this CEDAW hearing be the end, but instead the beginning.

Something we haven’t heard a lot about nationally - Women’s E-news reports today that anti-choice female candidates for governor are poised for big wins. What will this mean for state protections for reproductive rights and access to health care?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Impressed by her introductory remarks? Check out her rebuttal here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Or here!

Click here to view the embedded video.