Activistas

Pregnant & parenting students: Know your rights!

Activistas — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:42:22 -0700

Thanks to one of our favorite organizations, the National Women's Law Center, you can get the full scoop on Title IX and the civil rights it guarantees for pregnant and parenting students.

Check out this short video with NWLC Attorney Lara Kaufmann. OK, so it's not a Hollywood movie, but Ms. Kaufmann is incredibly informative for women in this situation.

According to NWLC, "One-quarter to one-third of female dropouts say that pregnancy or becoming a parent played a role in their decision to leave school. Providing better support for pregnant and parenting students; together with implementing effective pregnancy prevention measures; are critical steps for schools to take in their efforts to reduce those dropout rates."

Read all about it on NWLC's "A Dropout Crisis for Girls" web page.

Listen up! NW Mothers Milk Bank on KBOO radio 7/13

Stumptown Mom — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:43:56 -0700

The Northwest Mothers Milk Bank is spreading the word about their efforts with an interview on Monday July 13th on KBOO Community Radio.

Monday, July 13th at 11:30 AM, Anna Keith Soderberg will interview Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC, board member of the Northwest Mothers Milk Bank.

Listen in to KBOO in Portland at 90.7 FM, in Corvallis at 100.7 FM or in Hood River at 91.9 FM to hear about the importance of breastmilk, efforts to build a milk bank in Portland and how you can help. No calls will be taken due to time constraints, but if you have a question or comment please email beforehand to kboofamilybusiness@gmail.com

If you're out of the listening area, listen to the broadcast online - or just learn more about the bank @ www.nwmmb.org.

Sunday Parkways Bake Sale for change!

Activistas — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:25:17 -0700

The Sunday Parkways event in NE Portland is coming up on July 19th from 9-4. In case you haven't heard, this is a terrific, family-friendly event where miles of road are shut down to cars but kept open for bikers and pedestrians. There will even be 3 parks along the route featuring entertainment and food for participants. Just a great community event. Even better because there's now a chance for you to help our communities even further!

We will be hosting a bake sale along the route to benefit a budding nonprofit called Family Forward Oregon. If you'd like to help this terrific organization you can do so by baking something, buying something baked, or getting something donated. We're also looking for donations of lemonade and iced tea.

If you'd also like to work the sale, and hang out with a few other Activistas, it will be held at a fellow mama's home - so close to a bathroom, kid-friendly, and in a good spot for viewing all the Parkways fun.

If you're interested in donating baked goods, or volunteering, email andrea@familyforwardoregon.org. We'll work out the details from there.

Activistas summer playdate Friday 7/24 @ Posie's

Activistas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:03:31 -0700

About this time last year we got together to chat about any and all things Activistas, and we're gonna do it again this summer. But this time we have a slight agenda (in addition to the chance to yak about workplace and public policies that are and aren't working for your family): the founders of Family Forward Oregon are going to tell us about this new organization. What inspired them? What are the plans? What issues will they tackle - and how? How can you be involved?

Where: Posie's Cafe @ 8209 N. Denver Avenue (get a map)
When: Friday, July 24th from 9:30 to 11:30 AM
What: Meet fellow Activistas & learn about Family Forward Oregon

Hope to see you - and the kids - there.

[thanks to limaoscarjuliet on FlickrCC for the perfect pic]

Family Forward Oregon: Join us 7/8 from 6-9 pm

Activistas — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:42 -0700

Did you know that motherhood is the single greatest predictor of poverty in old age? Did you know that the wage gap between mothers and childless women is now greater than the gap between men and women? Startling facts that, to me, show a gap between what we say about valuing the work of child-raising and actually valuing it.

The idea of valuing parents and caregiving is what prompted a few fellow Activistas to take action! So, we're excited to announce the creation of a new, local nonprofit called Family Forward Oregon. Their mission? "Inspiring workplaces, communities and policies that value families".

Family Forward Oregon begins with the basic premise that our workplace and government policies lag far behind the reality in which most families live. Namely, policies are still built on the assumption that one parent is home full-time with kids. Obviously this doesn't account for all that lovely co-parenting, single-parenting, and extended family parenting that really goes on. It also doesn't account for the fact that in most families *both* parents work outside the home. And it definitely doesn't account for the fact that most of us (parents and non-parents alike) desperately want some work/family balance.

It's time to value the work of caring for each other. It's time to end the economic insecurity associated with motherhood. It's time to develop communities where families can thrive.

Family Forward Oregon will work to bring our workplaces, communities, and policies forward. They are creating a movement - and asking you to join them.

Get involved. They will be presenting their ideas and soliciting your feedback on a family forward agenda at next week's Social Innovation Forum (hosted by Springboard Innovation).

Your feedback is essential to creating change for all Oregon's families. Please come and tell us what you think about where we need to go from here!

Details:
Social Innovation Forum on Family Forward Oregon
When: July 8th, 2009 6-9 pm (light dinner provided)
Where: Urban Grind NE (NE 22nd & Oregon St)

Movies with meaning this summer

Stumptown Mom — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:49:14 -0700

Summer and movies - they just go together. While we love good escapism as much as the next exhausted and stressed-out mama, sometimes it's nice to test our brains with more meaningful movies. Lucky for us, our friends at Zenana Spa & Wellness Center are hosting a summer movie series, Matinees for Mamas, on parenting-related topics. The films will be followed by facilitated discussions. It gets even better -- proceeds benefit the Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon.

Sunday June 21st 1-4pm = The Business of Being Born

Sunday July 19th 1-4pm = Unconditional Parenting

Sunday August 16th 1-4pm = What Babies Want

Take in a thoughtful movie, take part in a spirited conversation and benefit a worthwhile organization. Sounds like a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Tell Congress to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act

Stumptown Mom — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:37:30 -0700

As we recently reported here on Activistas, our very own Senator Jeff Merkeley has introduced the 2009 Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Now its time to get other Congressional members on board as co-sponsors. Thanks go to the United States Breastfeeding Committee for giving us a convenient way to voice our support and encourage both our Senators and Representatives to step up for breastfeeding moms.

First the details:

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 (H.R. 2819, S. 1244) includes five provisions:

Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding women from being fired or discriminated against in the workplace.
Provides tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace, or provide breastfeeding equipment or consultation services to their employees.
Provides for a performance standard to ensure breast pumps are safe and effective.
Allows breastfeeding equipment and consultation services to be tax deductible for families (amends Internal Revenue Code definition of "medical care").
Protects the privacy of breastfeeding mothers by ensuring they have break time and a private place to pump (applies to employers with 50 or more employees, see text of legislation for details).

Now it's your turn! Fill out this simple on-line form to email your Congressional members and urge them to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009.

[photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons - Daquella manera]

OR Senator Merkeley takes our breastfeeding @ work law national

Activistas — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:21:17 -0700

Our 2007 breastfeeding @ work law is a strong one, so it's great to see our own Senator Merkeley (who worked on it while a state senator) take it to DC - so all moms in the US can get the kind of support now required in Oregon. We just got this press release from Senator Merkeley's office - very exciting. Go Oregon!

After doing heavy lifting on Oregon’s landmark Rest Breaks for Breast Milk Expression law, which passed in May 2007 after ten years of citizen lobbying, then Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley attended a Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon World Breastfeeding Week luncheon to congratulate the advocates.

Unbeknownst to event organizers, there was more on Merkley’s mind than the passage of the nation’s most detailed legislation protecting breastfeeding employees. At the event, Merkley announced his candidacy for US Senate and promised that if elected, he would bring similar legislation to the national stage.

Today, Merkley will do just that, by introducing the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 to the US Senate. A Washington, DC press conference is scheduled for 10am EST.

“It’s not every day we have the opportunity to enact legislation that is so clearly a win-win for families and our nation. Making it easier for moms to breastfeed means we have healthier babies, stronger families and happier workers,” Sen. Merkley said. “I championed Oregon’s breastfeeding bill two years ago. I’m excited to see Oregon’s contribution to a nationwide movement embraced by Representative Maloney and all those who have long advocated the purely common sense notion that breast milk is best.”

Only 1 in 10 US infants is exclusively breastfed the first six months of life as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In the US, 70% of women with children work full-time and the fastest-growing segment of the workforce is women with children under three. Return to work after the birth of a baby is a common reason cited for early weaning.

“We haven’t really done health care reform until we’ve protected infant health.” states Diane Garrett, volunteer lobbyist for the Oregon bill in 2005 and 2007, “If we’re to have any hope of more babies being breastfed, we need to decide on a strategy that addresses workplace conditions.”

Though Oregon is recognized as a leader in breastfeeding rates, still only 1 in 4 infants exclusively breastfeed for six months. “In passing this law in 2007, the Oregon legislature recognized that the health risks of not breastfeeding are too severe to leave workplace accommodations to the chance negotiations of individuals”, said Rep. Carolyn Tomei, Chair of the Human Services and Women’s Wellness Committee, whose bi-partisan committee unanimously passed the bill.

There are fourteen states with some sort of legislation related to lactation accommodation in the workplace. Implementation of Oregon’s law has been relatively smooth. Gretchen Peterson, HR Manager for Hanna Andersson reflects, “Legislation to encourage longer-term breastfeeding by eliminating potential workplace barriers has been successfully passed and implemented in Oregon with no negative impact on business.”

Mothers also report a difference. Tonya Hirte, a Senior Customer Service Representative in Portland, breastfed two children after return to work at the same employer, one before passage of the law, and one after. “My employer was supportive, but didn’t have dedicated facilities when I was expressing milk for my first baby. I had to go to a separate floor of my building and express milk in the bathroom. The law passed before I had my second child, and my employer converted a storage closet to a clean, private, simply furnished room. It gave dignity to my experience and made me feel valued as an employee.”

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 has components that work together to reduce barriers for employed breastfeeding mothers. It would:

Amend existing language in the civil Rights Act of 1964 to include lactation as inter-related with pregnancy and childbirth.
Provide an employer tax credit for expenses related to creating a breastfeeding friendly workplace.
Instruct the Secretary of DHHS to set a minimum safety performance standard for breast pumps.
Expand the IRS medical codes to include breastfeeding equipment and services, and
Allot privacy and time for breastfeeding employees to express milk in the workplace.

This legislation was originally introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, and has now been expanded by Senator Merkley to include time and space workplace accommodations similar to Oregon’s law. This is the first time the Breastfeeding Promotion Act will be introduced in the US Senate.

Working & Breastfeeding? BCO wants your stories!

Stumptown Mom — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:29:46 -0700

Working and breastfeeding? Hopefully it's easier now that Oregon's landmark Rest Breaks for Milk Expression law mandates employers of over 25 employees provide time and space to express breast milk during the work day. The Breastfeeding Coalition of Oregon wants hear how it's going out there now and/or what your experiences were before the law was passed.

If you have a story to share, email amelia@breastfeedingor.org with the subject line "workplace testimonial" with the following information stated as simply and briefly as possible:

your name, email and phone number
work sector/industry
city, state
employer name (optional)
employer size
your story

Please indicate if any of the following describe your situation PRIOR TO THE LAW:

accommodated with written policy
positive experience breastfeeding and return to work, law unnecessary
accommodated, but with informal agreement
discriminated against by managers or co-workers
quit or altered nursing to accommodate workplace demands
job loss -- fired
job loss -- quit
job loss -- didn't return to work after maternity leave
other?

Please indicate if any of the following describe your situation AFTER PASSAGE OF THE LAW:

law eased the conversation with my employer about my intentions to breastfeed
my employer accommodates with private space and adequate time, per the law
positive experience breastfeeding and return to work
law helps with co-worker relationships
law has not helped relationships with co-workers and managers
don't know about this law
don't know how or am afraid to file a complaint with the Bureau of Labor
law hasn't helped, still not able to breastfeed and return to work
other?

[photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons -- Daquella manera]

Paid family leave: It's far too quiet in Salem

Activistas — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:59:51 -0700

Well, we've worked hard and written a-l-o-t here on Activistas about the effort to pass a paid family leave bill here in Oregon. And we're tired. And far as I can tell, there's no bill yet. Progress? Yes. A new law? Not yet - and there's a mere 3 weeks left this legislative session. Anyone???? Salem????

Guess the good folks in Salem aren't quite getting it about work-family balance and the need for Oregon families to have time to care for each other. Maybe the business community is not quite on board - 'cause yikes, we workers might actually breastfeed our babies for as long as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, or accompany our partner to chemotherapy or sit next to our dying parents without going bankrupt or losing our job.

Do they get the serious challenges families face here in Oregon?? Trying to work when school's out for 3 months (last I checked, my office doesn't close for the summer - yours?), trying to tend to ill family members when they've got no sick leave, trying to afford child care and 10 different summer camps. If I sound bitter, you're a good judge.

How long will it take, that's what I want to know? How long? I'm beginning to think that it will take until we have enough legislators in Salem who get it. And we don't right now. They're clearly out of touch with my experience of life in Oregon.