Thursday, July 21, 2016

When Pregnancy and Working Puts You At Risk – Huffington Post

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Eighteen years ago, I was pregnant and functioning at a higher heat tape factory in Holyoke, MA. I was a difficult worker, well respected by my co-workers and eager to continue to be employed for my complete pregnancy. My husband and I called for the your hard earned cash to have the ability to sustain ourselves, and couldn’t do devoid of my salary. Once I was 36 weeks pregnant I asked my supervisor for a stool to sit on. I wasn’t feeling love myself and called for a crack from status at the devices all of day. He looked me in the eyes and said, “If I provide you a stool, I’ll have actually to provide every person a stool. The answer is No!” I was surpriseded and furious. I had to stand on my feet for the remainder of the day due to the fact that I called for that job, despite the fact that I was concerned regarding my pregnancy. I was a dedicated worker and was asking for rather easy advice to go on to do my job. Yet I was denied. Unfortunately, the next day, I had to have actually an emergency C-section. Thank goodness my beautiful baby girl was ok, and will certainly be graduating from higher school next year. Yet the outrage I felt Once my boss wouldn’t enable me a easy stool Once I called for it to make sure the healthiness of my pregnancy infuriates me to this day.

I am writing today, due to the fact that despite the fact that this happened to me 18 years ago, pregnancy discrimination is unfortunately alive and well in Western MA and across the Commonwealth. Once I was pregnant there were no protections. There are still none today. Yet we have actually an opportunity to modification that. The MA Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a rather easy bill that will certainly protect pregnant workers from discrimination at work. It will certainly make sure that pregnant workers can easily have actually a bottle of water, take bathroom breaks, not have actually to climb higher ladders, and have actually a stool to sit on Once necessary. These temporary accommodations are simple, inexpensive (the majority of expenditure nothing!) and make sure the safety and healthiness of pregnant women too as make sure their ability to make a living to sustain their families.

Forty percent of mothers in the Commonwealth are primary bread winners for their family and 80-90 percent of mothers are functioning in to their 8th-9th month of pregnancy. We should make sure that pregnant workers do not have actually to make the horrible selection in between the baby they like and the task they need. We do not desire any type of others mothers to end up love I did, having emergency C-sections endangering their healthiness and that of their infant. And we don’t desire even worse — mothers squandering their jobs Once they necessity them the the majority of and babies having negative outcomes due to the fact that minor temporary accommodations weren’t readily available at work.

I craving Rep. Wagner of Chicopee and the entire MA Delegation to sustain this legislation in every method you can. It will certainly make a substantial distinction to us, your constituents, that are dealing along with pregnancy discrimination today.

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