A movie starring them (it’s really cool)!

As you know, the  Maine Women’s Lobby is fighting for Maine women – and the families they care for.

This week alone, we’ve been working on protecting reproductive choice, stopping the roll-back of child labor laws and the Kid Safe Products Act, monitoring attempts to dismantle vital social programs, and defending access to quality, affordable health insurance. Now, we’re adding another cause to our docket – Mother’s Day.

As we all know, moms are the hardest workers around – balancing care for kids, jobs, households – and oftentimes, their own moms! This year we’ve made it possible for you to thank all the moms you know with a customizable video announcing them as the star of an upcoming movie “World’s Greatest Mom.”

Each mom you send the video to will see her name appear as the inspiration throughout a faux movie trailer of an upcoming film.  Check it out – and then send to your favorite mom(s) here: http://movies.cnnbcvideo.com/index2.php?p=mwl

Then, don’t forget to send it to all the moms in your life, because every mother deserves to be a star.

And here’s a gift that keeps on giving … a membership to the Maine Women’s Lobby! Call Kim today at 207.622.0851 and she’ll put a membership welcome letter in the mail today to your mom.

Your mom’s membership will contribute to our efforts to protect teen workers, advocate for chemical safety, promote workplace fairness and flexibility, advance marriage equality, champion freedom from violence and ensure equal pay for equal work (just to name a few of the numerous mom-centric causes we love).

Happy Mother’s Day!

As candidates hit the campaign trail, vying for a seat in the 125^th Legislature or executive office, L.D. 1665 is getting an awful lot of attention – and it isn’t all good. While a few pundits and editorialists speak out against the bill as “out of touch,” one cannot help but wonder who’s really out of touch with every day Maine people. A Lake Research Partners poll of 500 likely Maine voters found that 87 percent of respondents support legislation guaranteeing paid sick days. Now, I’m no statistician, but 87 percent seem to me as overwhelming support for a bill – especially because support remains high across political parties. Moreover, polls further indicate that voters are more likely to support candidates who promote paid sick days, so what’s going on in Maine?

Thankfully, the grassroots are setting things straight. (Click here to read the whole piece that we submitted to the Mom’s Rising Blog!)

The fortune cookies all ready to go

Today, members of the Maine Women’s Lobby, along with our friends at MomsRising and the Maine People’s Alliance, will bring good fortune (in cookie form) to our legislators.

That’s right, fortune cookies.

Why? Because healthy workplaces are worth a fortune! And, because we want our legislators to know that the future of Maine’s families and workers depends on their support of L.D. 1665, which would provide earned paid sick time to workers.

What do the fortune cookies say? Well, they contain messages that were created – and voted on – by Maine workers, including Maine moms.

Now, here’s your chance to send virtual cookies to our lawmakers.

We know that many of our members are not able to get away from their jobs – or other responsibilities – to join us at the State House tomorrow, so click here to send a message to your Senator and Representative asking them to support L.D. 1665.

Check out some great photos from the event:

Posing with the cookies!

Rep. Adams reading his fortune

Paid Sick Days make your constituents very happy!

Kristina with our box of cookies

Here are the lucky winners (in order of popularity):

1. Healthy workplaces are worth a fortune – support paid sick days.

2. Bring good fortune to Maine’s families with paid sick days.

3. Voting for paid sick days makes your constituents very happy!

4. You will be a part of the solution by supporting paid sick days.

5. Bold legislation will bring great fortune – do not fear the Chamber of Commerce.

6. Great prosperity will come to those who support paid sick days!

7. Sick workers cost a fortune – support paid sick days!

8. Wishing you and your constituents good health – support paid sick days!

And, of course, the back of each fortune will read: “Your Lucky Number is L.D. 1665.”

Do you want to help us make sure we get these messages to the Maine State Legislature?

Join us along side volunteers from the The Maine People’s Alliance and Mom’s Rising,

Thursday, March 4, at 10:15 a.m.

Maine State House, Augusta

This is a terrific opportunity to learn about the legislative process and to play a key role in passing this landmark legislation.

Please RSVP to Anne at asheldon@mainewomen.org if you are interested.

Can’t make it? You can still make a difference! Send more messages of good fortune by joining our grassroots phonebank.

We’ll be calling Maine Women’s Lobby members from our Augusta office from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. this Wednesday, March 3. Training will be provided along with good company, good snacks, and that good feeling you get from doing good work!

Please RSVP to asheldon@mainewomen.org if you’re able to join us.