Workers Ready for Battle in Fight to Save FMLA

A CWA member employed as a cable splicer needed knee surgery to be able to continue working in manholes.

A flight attendant represented by AFA-CWA needs intermittent medical leave because of multiple sclerosis.

Another telecom member who has a son with asthma, is the primary caregiver for an elderly grandmother with Alzheimer's and has severe medical problems herself, fears for her job if she's unable to take Family and Medical Leave.

Those are the struggles of just three workers among millions nationwide who have benefited from 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act — crucial legislation that was spearheaded by organized labor.

Thousands of them are speaking out, pleading with the Bush administration and Congress to keep their hands off the right to unpaid leave for personal and family illnesses and medical emergencies.

Corporate America has made it clear that chipping away at FMLA, if not getting rid of it altogether, is one of its top priorities. A Democratic Congress and the enormous pressure CWA and other unions will put on lawmakers will make it harder for employers to succeed. Nevertheless, the White House is determined and has instructed the Labor Department to review the law.

If business gets it way, it would become harder for workers to use the law for unpaid medical leave — be it an hour for a doctor's appointment or a day or several weeks to deal with a serious illness or a family member's health.

The airline member with multiple sclerosis quoted above said in an e-mail to CWA that she rarely has to use the leave, but it helps her immensely to know it's there — especially when management regularly reminds workers that they can be fired if they call in sick more than three days a year. "Please save the only thing that allows me to continue the job I love," she said.

Several members who work telecom jobs outdoors said the physical demands of the job itself have forced them to have knee operations. "The surgery was necessary for me to keep doing my job," one member said. "The average working Joe needs some kind of protection from big business. Leave FMLA alone."

CWA is fighting for FMLA not only for its members, but all workers. Along with other unions and with the support of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), CWA is urging Congress not just to save FMLA but to expand it so that workers are guaranteed at least a week of paid sick time. Right now, all FMLA time is unpaid.

U.S. Lags Behind Other Nations

Just as the Labor Department was wrapping up its public comment period on rolling back FMLA rights, a university study was released showing that U.S. workers are worse off than workers in nearly every other country when it comes to medical leave. For instance:

• Out of 173 countries studied, 168 guarantee paid maternity leave, with 98 of countries offering at least 14 weeks. The United States joins Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea as the only countries without it. Legislation for paid leave has been introduced in Australia where new mothers presently get a year of unpaid time.
  
• Fathers get paid paternity leave in 65 countries, 31 of them offering 14 or more weeks.
  
• At least 145 countries provide paid sick leave, with 127 of them guaranteeing at least a week of sick time.

"More countries are providing the workplace protections that Americans can only dream of," said the study's author, Jody Heymann, director of the McGill University Institute for Health and Social Policy. "The U.S. has been a proud leader in adopting laws that provide for equal opportunity in the workplace, but our work/family protections are among the worst. It's time for a change."

For updates on the FMLA review process and a link to the McGill University report on family leave worldwide, go online to ga.cwa-union.org.