OLYMPIA, Wash. – Bills have been introduced in both the Washington state House and Senate to give new parents and those who are sick or caring for a loved one paid time off from work. A coalition of legislators, business owners, parents and advocates announced the proposal to bring paid family and medical leave to the state in Olympia on Tuesday.

State Rep. June Robinson of Everett, sponsor of House Bill 1116, says paid leave has advantages, both for employers and employees.

"People are willing to stay at a job if they know that there is the possibility of paid family leave," she said. "It's a way to protect workers and their families, which just makes for a better employment situation for everyone."

If the bill passes, employees would have 26 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or newly-adopted baby or an ill family member, starting in 2019. In 2020, employees could take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave to tend to their own health conditions. The program would be funded through a payroll deduction, costing employers and workers about $2 a week.

A poll last year showed more than 70 percent of Washingtonians supported paid family and medical leave. Robinson, a Democrat, says although the bill might change a bit, there is support for this type of legislation across the aisle as well.

"I certainly think there's bipartisan support for paid family leave, and we will work to get bipartisan support as the bill works its way through the Legislature," she added.

State Sen. Karen Keiser is supporting the companion bill, Senate Bill 5032.

Three states currently have paid family and medical leave laws on the books: California, New Jersey and Rhode Island. New York will join them in 2018.


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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has signed House Bill 267 into law, a controversial measure that takes away the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions.

Many union workers voiced their concerns and urged Cox to veto the bill, which they contend would damage unions.

But the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Jordan Teuscher - R-South Jordan, said he heard from many teachers and other public sector workers in the right-to-work state, who weren't part of a union and felt they didn't have a voice.

He said now, the bill will allow them to negotiate their own employment terms.

"Teachers talked about where they had an idea, a change that they wanted - in insurance is an example," said Teuscher, "and they went to the administration to ask them about that and the administration said, 'Well, you're going to have to go talk to the union about it.' And so they'd go to the union to talk about it and the union says 'well, you're not a member, we don't really care what you think.'"

Teuscher contended the law will make public employers' wages and benefits more competitive.

He added that employers will continue to "value and listen to the priorities" of union leaders, as they'll still represent a significant portion of workers.

In a statement, the Utah Education Association - a union which represents 18,000 public school teachers - said they're not letting the "setback" stop them, and said this moment reinforces the importance of unions.

While lawmakers considered a compromise, they couldn't reach an alternative.

In a statement Cox said, "Utah has long been known as a state that can work together to solve difficult issues. I'm disappointed that in this case, the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise that at one point was on the table and that some stakeholders had accepted."

Teuscher argued that no one worked harder than he did to reach that compromise.

"I met daily, multiple times a day with different union leaders," said Teuscher, "to try to get to the end of the road, something that the Senate could be comfortable with and the House could be comfortable with that was short of the ban."

Teuscher contended public employees that like their unions are going to continue being members and have unions advocate on their behalf.

But labor groups fear if public entities were resistant to listening to concerns before, now they likely won't listen to a single employee.




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Connecticut union organizers are working to get pension plans for paraeducators.

In recent years, they have won a flurry of benefits from organizing but getting a pension plan has not been easy, since a General Assembly bill to create one has not made it through the Appropriations Committee in three years.

Michael Barry, campaign coordinator for the Connecticut Coalition for Retirement Security, pointed out most paraeducators have to work second jobs to afford everyday life, so their salaries make it hard to save for retirement.

"You can't put money into a 401(k) when you're barely making ends meet and paying your rent and keeping the car going," Barry emphasized. "Connecticut is like most places in New York, you really need a car. So, that's a whole other expense."

A 2021 Connecticut Paraeducator Advisory Council study found most paraeducators make less than $19 an hour and one in five makes $13 to $16 an hour. The state is already grappling with a shortage of teachers and aides.

A Connecticut Education Association survey last year found 69% of school districts reporting job openings for paraeducators.

Another way to help paraeducators would be to raise the minimum wage, more than it was already increased this year. The latest ALICE update shows the number of "asset-limited, income-constrained, employed" families grew 13% in 2022, the largest jump in a decade.

Barry argued creating a living wage would be beneficial.

"Rents are outrageous now. You know, rent, utilities are bad," Barry outlined. "Eversource keeps raising rates and it's just terrible. You know, just being able to survive, you need to be making a decent amount of money."

Connecticut's minimum wage is a little over $16 an hour, or an annual income of around $34,000. ALICE data found 38% of teachers' aides were living below the ALICE threshold.

A New York City music school's faculty is back in the classroom after a weeklong strike.

The Manhattan School of Music's Precollege Program faculty walked off the job after lengthy union negotiations broke down. The teachers have been working without a union contract since last August. While the union has made concessions, it said the school has been reluctant to compromise.

Adam Kent, president of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Faculty Union, said they were forced to strike because the school was not taking the union seriously.

"We gave them over three weeks. We asked them if they wanted to reconsider their last proposal and they spelled it out that, no, they wouldn't be making any new proposals," Kent recounted. "We gave them two days notice when we actually declared the strike, and their first response was to try to line up 'scabs.'"

He noted the union is heading back to the bargaining table with the hope of getting a cost of living increase aligned with other schools, such as the Mannes School of Music and Juilliard. In a statement, the Manhattan School called the union's actions "disruptive to student learning" and argued they have had little or no availability to negotiate. Students, parents and other union members have joined the faculty's picket line.

While this was the first strike, Kent said he cannot say whether it will be the last. He cautioned there could be another, longer strike if the pattern of bargaining continues. He added recent comments from the school's attorney regarding the union's National Labor Relations Board case against the school make him leery about what lies ahead.

"The attorney made a comment to us, 'Good luck with your board,' in the context of the eviscerating of all of these federal agencies under the new administration, and we were really chilled by that," Kent acknowledged. "We really saw it as part of this idea of people claiming impunity and taking advantage of the current political climate."

Throughout negotiations, there have been questions about how much money is available for faculty raises. The school has continuously said there are not enough funds for a pay raise, but tax filing data show the school's president and executives received large pay increases last year. Other data indicate the school's tuition has risen 58% since 2014.


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