MEDIA ADVISORY

Nation’s Leading Advocates for Women to Discuss Their Strong Opposition to the Misnamed Working Families Flexibility Act, as More Than 150 Organizations Urge House to Reject It

WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 6, 2013 — More than 150 leading women’s, worker and civil rights organizations will send a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives today in opposition to H.R. 1406 – the so-called Working Families Flexibility Act – which the House is set to vote on this week. As Mother’s Day approaches, the bill’s proponents are falsely claiming it is family- and woman-friendly when, in fact, it would cause grave harm to working women and mothers. Top women leaders from the House, policy and advocacy arenas will discuss the bill and call on Congress to instead prioritize legislation that would allow workers to earn paid sick days, provide paid family and medical leave, fight gender-based wage discrimination, increase the minimum wage, and more.

WHEN: 1:30 p.m. eastern, Monday, May 6th

WHAT: Audio press conference on the Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406)

WITH: Judith L. Lichtman, Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Women & Families

  U.S. Representative Donna Edwards (D – Md.)

  U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D – Fla.)

  U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D – Conn.)

Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director/CEO and Co-Founder, MomsRising

WHERE: Dial 1-800-247-5110 Passcode: CompTime

INFO: Background materials on H.R. 1406, including more than 20 individual letters submitted in oppositionto the bill from prominent women’s, worker and civil rights advocacy organizations, are available at www.NationalPartnership.org/HR1406. 

 H.R. 1406 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17th. Women’s, worker and civil rights advocacy organizations strongly oppose the bill because it would cost workers pay, undermine longstanding workplace protections, and leave workers even more vulnerable to abuse.

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NOTE: On April 11th, Lichtman testified at the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Hearing on H.R. 1406. Her written testimony is available here.

The National Partnership for Women & Families, based in Washington, D.C., drafted and led the fight to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act. The organization promotes fairness in the workplace, access to quality affordable health care and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.NationalPartnership.org.


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