Proposals from Jobs For All: A Plan for the Revitalization of America, NJFAC
In addition to paid employment at decent pay for all women and men who are able and willing to work, JOBS FOR ALL proposes these policies that are of special relevance to women:
1. Paid family leave. Care by family members of the very young and the infirm is productive work that should be compensated. (The goal is 18 months of paid leave for infant and child care.)
2. Universal, subsidized, high-quality child care for employed parents.
3. Expanded training opportunities for family care-givers, to minimize their losses from being out of the job market.
4. Government-assured child support for all single-parent families in which the noncustodial parent either defaults or does not have sufficient income to contribute an amount determined to be minimally adequate.
5. Monthly child allowances for all families.
6. Staged reductions in standard work time, including both a reduced work week and legally-mandated paid vacations, sabbaticals and work sharing, in order to stimulate job creation, increase productivity, and afford more time for family, community, leisure and learning.
7. Renewed commitment to the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended and expanded by the Civil Rights Act of 1991; and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, requiring that pregnancy be treated as any other temporary “disability.”
8. Implementation of the affirmative action policies set forth in various Executive Orders.
9. Extension of pay equity or comparable worth laws, enacted in some states but which pertain only to public employment, to federal and private sectors.
10. Legislation to protect part-time and temporary workers, including hourly wage parity among all workers doing the same job, and pro-rated fringe benefits.
11. Universal health care provided by government and available to all, regardless of employment status.
12. Change in the Equal Opportunity Commission’s definition of sexual harassment in the workplace so as to place the burden of proof and responsibility on the accused offenders rather than their victims, along with strengthening state laws against sexual harassment.
These policies are discussed more fully in Jobs for All, the program of the National Jobs for All Coalition : “Reduced Time,” and “Anti-Discrimination Policies,” pp. 52-53, 56; “Adequate Income for All”, pp. 59-63. See also sections on “Rights of Workers,” pp. 66-69, and “Lifelong Learning,” pp. 113-117.