Sen. Gayle Goldin,  Dan Gold and supporters.

As President of LNA Laser Technology in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Dan Gold knows the importance of attracting and retaining highly skilled workers to his state. That’s why he hosted a press event at his company this week to support the Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) bill that would ensure workers can earn replacement income for up to eight weeks when they need time to care for a seriously ill family member or a new child.

“Recruiting, hiring and training new employees is too expensive and time consuming,” Gold said, “especially when under TCI I know that my employees will return after they’re done with their caregiving responsibilities.  This bill not only provides employees with job security, but business owners are able to avoid the costly process of hiring and training new employees.” Noting that TCI is entirely funded by employees, Gold called it “a win-win for everybody.”

Joining him were other business owners, workers and healthcare and family advocates, all calling on the state legislature to pass TCI (S 231 and H 5889).  Sponsored by Senator Gayle Goldin and Representative Elaine Coderre, the bill will make sure families are not forced into financial crisis after a serious illness or arrival of a new child, and will provide support to small business owners.

The press conference was organized by We Care RI, a broad and diverse coalition of 24 Rhode Island businesses and organizations advocating for employers, workers, families and seniors.

TCI would build off of Rhode Island’s existing Temporary Disability Insurance program and expand this financial security to family members who need to take time off to care for a severely ill family member.

Tammy Russo shared her story.

Tammy Russo from Coventry, RI, described the situation last fall when her son, Joey, 20, who has severe cognitive and physical disabilities, was hospitalized for 17 days. During that time, he had many medical procedures, including two major brain surgeries,

“The financial strain was substantial,” she said. “I became very worried about how we would pay for all of our bills and still allow my son to receive care from the ones who know his needs the best—my husband and me.   Had TCI been in place then, I would not have worried if my family could pay the mortgage, utilities, insurances, and food during my time away from work and my paycheck. I would have had the replacement income that I contribute into each paycheck.”

Senate sponsor Gayle Goldin noted that “too many hard working Rhode Islanders, like Tammy Russo, find themselves on the edge of economic crisis when they need to care for a seriously ill family member or welcome a new child into their home.  Life is filled with unexpected events, and all of us have experienced the push-pull between work responsibilities and someone in our families needing us. Temporary Caregiver Insurance is a cost-effective way to give employees the time to balance family and work responsibilities without jeopardizing their economic security.”

Senator Goldin characterized TCI as “a critical investment in our workforce and our families that is good for Rhode Island’s businesses and the overall economy.”

Two other states, California and New Jersey, have implemented paid family leave programs, and studies have shown that they save employers money.  A 2011 study of California’s family leave program estimated that family leave insurance saves employers $89 million a year by improving employee retention and reducing turnover costs. An overwhelming majority of employers in California report that paid family leave has had a positive or neutral effect on their productivity, profitability and performance.  A recent Rutgers study of the paid family leave program in New Jersey shows that family leave insurance leads to business savings by improving employee retention, decreasing turnover costs, and enhancing worker morale.

While TCI would cover nearly 80 percent of Rhode Island’s workforce, low-wage workers living from paycheck to paycheck stand to benefit the most.  Low-wage workers are the least likely to have a full-range of benefits or the savings to cover a few weeks of missed work. Yet, for less than cost of a cup of coffee a day, a low-wage worker can have the peace of mind to know that he or she can access to paid time off when the need is greatest.

For more, check out the video at wecareri.org.

Ten years ago, Netsy Firestein and I were  working out in a swimming pool at a conference in Orlando. For months following California’s win on paid family leave, we’d been talking about how to make sure funds got directed to the grassroots organizing necessary to win change. That day in the pool, we decided to create a new model of state coalitions banding together to raise money and share it, along with sharing strategies, messaging, and inspiration. The coalitions would have to be diverse, we agreed – and labor would have to be a key partner.

That was the birth of Family Values @ Work Consortium. And from the beginning, Labor Project for Working Families helped each state strengthen the involvement and visibility of labor’s role in our campaigns.

That’s why we’re delighted that the Labor Project for Working Families has chosen Family Values @ Work as the place to house its national work.

For two decades, the Labor Project has been a leader on work and family issues, supporting labor unions in collective bargaining and engaging both unions and their members with coalitions working to advance and implement policies such as family leave, paid sick days and worker-controlled job flexibility.  This work has been vital to every one of our campaigns and has improved the lives of millions of men and women across the country.

Beginning July 1, The Labor Project will join forces with Family Values @ Work nationally and expand efforts to win these important policies.

Building on Labor Project’s pioneering work to support union bargaining on work and family issues and to strengthen alliances between labor and community coalitions focused on these issues, the national work and union resources of Labor Project will become a project of Family Values @ Work, our nationwide network of state coalitions organizing in 21 states.  Under the excellent leadership of Carol Joyner, Labor Project will deepen labor’s involvement in the grassroots movements that are winning change at the local level and creating momentum for new federal minimum standards. The Labor Project website and union resources, including its contract language database, will be housed with Family Values @ Work.

The California coalition that Labor Project has led will also continue, partnering with Next Generation to shepherd that work under the continued leadership of Jenya Cassidy. We’re thrilled to have them as one of our member groups.

Strengthening grassroots coalitions through the involvement of local labor unions has led to a record stretch of wins on paid sick days and family leave in cities and states across the country.  The Labor Project for Working Families has been critical in making these connections. We’re honored to house this work as we enter the next phase.

Fortunately for all of us, Netsy Firestein will still be connected to the work in numerous ways. We hail her robust career, her many wins and her multiple gifts, which we intend to draw on for years to come.

Steve hasn’t had a lot to celebrate in recent years. But he’s thrilled to have been part of a movement in Colorado that expanded the definition of family under the state’s Family and Medical Leave Act.

The win comes too late for Steve and his partner, Belinda, a former tri-athlete who suffered a terrible fall in 2011 when a crosswind took her and her bicycle off the side of a mountain. During multiple surgeries for massive injuries and later during her recovery at home, Steve took time to care for Belinda. He was eligible for FMLA at his job, but because he and Belinda weren’t married, he wasn’t allowed to use it.

That changed on May 3, when Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law the Family Care Act. Those in civil unions and registered as domestic partners will now be covered under FMLA. The bill received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

“The Family Care Act is a vital complement to the Colorado Civil Unions Act,” said Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, Senate sponsor of the bill, referring to another law enacted a month earlier. “Family comes first, and taking care of your family is part of being in a loving, committed relationship.  Civil unions isn’t only about rights, it’s about responsibilities for one another through sickness and health.”

“Colorado families look differently today than they did 20 years ago,” said Rep. Cherylin Peniston, House sponsor of the Family Care Act. “With Civil Unions signed into law recently, it is only fitting we expand our family medical leave laws to reflect these Colorado families. This modest expansion will allow Coloradans’ jobs to be protected when they are faced with a serious illness of their significant other.”

This week, Martha Roby (R-AL) will introduce the same discredited comp time bill that leaders in her party have been pushing for years. Misleadingly titled “The Working Families Flexibility Act,” HR 1406 would permit private sector employers to offer compensation time in lieu of overtime pay to their hourly work force.

At first glance the idea seems great: flexible time, family friendly. What’s not to love?

Public sector workers can answer this question.  In 1985, Congress voted to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allowing government employers to offer comp time in lieu of overtime pay.  Family and flexibility had nothing to do with it:  the bill was framed as a cost-savings measure for cash strapped government agencies. The results:  longer work hours and less pay for America’s families.

The public sector workforce has far greater union density (35.9%) than the private sector workforce (6.6%).  Except in so-called Right-to-Work states, many government workers can negotiate a collective bargaining agreement covering policies for comp time and overtime.   Union workers can stick together: they know the contract, can discuss compensation matters without threat of termination and have formal grievance procedures. But even with those safeguards, workers are often cheated out of money and time.

Ask Linda Burgin, a retired research analyst with Oregon State Agencies and past President of SEIU 503. She describes comp time in lieu of overtime pay as “a nice idea that resulted in hundreds of hours that she and her colleagues worked without compensation of any sort.”  The real problem lies in getting the comp time off when you need it most.  Due to downsizing, increased deadlines and rapid turnover, agencies are struggling to comply.  Linda recalls that it was usually easier to work the extra hours – without compensation – and get the job done.   That amounts to huge cost savings for the state at the workers’ expense!

Oregon is a state that respects the right for workers to ban together.  The issue plays out differently in so-called Right-to-Work states, where employees rarely bargain these terms with employers.  Nationwide, private sector workers will have no defense against employers who deny overtime pay and insist on comp time.  They already experience high levels of wage theft, misclassification, and other abuses.  HR 1406 would surely increase the number of employment violations – further devastating families.

Supporters of H.R. 1406 claim that the bill would simply give private sector workers an option that public sector workers have “enjoyed.”   It’s hard to find examples.  Our first responders — fire fighters, law enforcement personnel and others — often bear the highest price.   In many jurisdictions, they are required to bank 480 hours of comp time before they can receive a single hour of overtime pay.

Deputy Jerel Climpson, Atlanta, Georgia, recalls the days when he still received overtime pay.  Now, he must work extra hours to add to his comp time bank if he plans on taking a vacation, or helping a sick family member.  This policy results in more time at work, less time at home and a real pay cut.  “I’d rather have the cash,” says Climpson.

Recently, the U.S. DOL, Wage and Hour Division recovered over $35 million dollars in back wages from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  The agency allowed workers to bank comp time in excess of 480 hours.  The $35 million in back wages is unpaid comp time, earned time that workers couldn’t use – not very family friendly.

A similar lawsuit is pending in Mississippi.  According to the Clarion Ledger, state prison guards have been forced to work more than 135 hours of overtime with a promise of time off.  Myia Norwood has already banked the hours but she was denied the comp time.  If the amount of overtime worked were paid as overtime, Norwood would have received $7,100 last year.  Her family could use this money.

Instead of H.R 1406, working people need real solutions: the Healthy Families Act, Paycheck Fairness, collective bargaining rights, a meaningful minimum wage.  Those are measures that build economic security for families.

Brotherly Love? Check. Sisterly Devotion? Check. Earned Sick Days? Not So Fast.

It’s the stories that I keep coming back to.

The story of a cook who was hit by a bus and hit with an eviction notice when he couldn’t pay his rent. The story of a mother who missed two weeks of work with illness and, five months later, still wasn’t back on her feet financially. The story of a man who bled for three hours in a restaurant kitchen after cutting himself because he wasn’t allowed to leave and get stitches.

When Mayor Nutter vetoed earned sick days in Philadelphia, he didn’t just veto a bill supported by 110 organizations, 40+ businesses, 25 labor leaders, and 77 percent of Philadelphians. By choosing to stand with big business lobbyists, Mayor Nutter drowned out the voices of the hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians who support and need earned sick days. By standing with Mayor Nutter, the Council members who voted with him chose not to represent the very communities that elected them.

In the weeks since the veto, I’ve heard from union leaders, business owners, and voters about their disappointment and anger over the Mayor’s short-sighted decision. They urge our coalition to continue its work – and we plan to do just that. After all, preventing workers from earning paid sick days is squarely in opposition to research, public opinion, and real world experience. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that paid sick days are available to Philadelphians to strengthen our economy and our families.

By 2015, there will be more cities joining San Francisco, Washington DC, Seattle, Portland, and New York City – not to mention more states adopting paid sick days measures as Connecticut has already done.

Philadelphia will join their ranks because those who are forced to choose between the jobs they need and the families they love will continue to tell their stories – and they and the rest of the voters will be heard.

Home rule – guaranteed under the Florida state constitution — is a cherished conservative principle. It ensures the right of the people to determine and implement a public purpose at the grassroots level.

So when is home rule not okay with conservative politicians connected to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC? Apparently, when local elected officials or voters stand with working families rather than corporate lobbyists.

Local elected officials in Miami, Central Florida and Tallahassee rallied April 16 to oppose pending statewide legislation that flies in the face of home rule. One bill in the House would prevent local governments from writing laws regarding employee benefits. It would strip away measures already in place, including those banning wage theft and requiring a living wage, as well block legislators or voters from moving on local earned sick days measures such as the pending referendum in Orange County. The state bill focuses strictly on earned sick time.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, sponsors of the preemption bills got a little help from their friends — Walt Disney World and Darden Restaurants, owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains — in drafting the legislation.

Those would be the same friends who let their fingers do the walking to assist Orange County Commissioners with texts on how to keep the earned sick time referendum off the ballot last November. That action, now known as Textgate, was a clear violation of the County Charter; a court has since ordered the referendum to appear on the August 2014 ballot.

Miami Officials Step Up

In Miami, City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado joined labor, faith and community groups on the steps of the historic Miami-Dade County Courthouse to send a message to Florida state legislators: Don’t trample on local control.

“I represent one of the poorest cities in the country,” said Mayor Regalado. “The living wage in the City of Miami has helped keep thousands of workers out of poverty and given them a chance to build a life of economic security for their families.”

City of Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower also spoke out against the preemption bills. “We fought hard for a living wage in the City of Miami Beach because I know how hard it is for workers to make ends meet,” she said. “Before I was Mayor, I was an average worker and know how hard it is to afford to live in the City of Miami Beach.”

She urged Miami-Dade residents to take swift action and call their legislators to tell them that local residents working with local leaders know what’s best for their own cities.

Mayor Daisy Black of the Village of El Portal, and City of Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora also spoke. They were two of 22 local elected officials who signed a letter released at the press conference to the Florida state legislators urging them not to preempt local control.

Other speakers included Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of the Haitian Women of Miami, and Tony Fransetta, President of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, who described the economic benefits to their communities of having living wage and wage theft ordinances.

Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose State Power Grab

The bills are not only bad for the economy – they’re bad for elected officials. According to a statewide poll conducted April 5-7 by Public Policy Polling, the vast majority of likely Florida voters strongly oppose legislative efforts to keep cities and counties from being able to enact protections for workers in their own communities. A majority of voters don’t trust the state legislature to make the right decisions for their local communities.

In Orlando, 40 people turned out to hear Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum, Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph, Eatonville City Council Member Alvin Moore, a representative from Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office and Congressman Alan Grayson’s office.

Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph said the legislation favors big business and special interests over local leaders and low-income workers.

“Big business, most of them out-of-state, incorporated in Delaware, so you might as well call it the Delaware Chamber of Commerce, is coming into Florida trying to stop our citizens from deciding what kind of community they want to live in.”

Those in attendance belonged to Organize Now, Central Florida Jobs with Justice, Community Business Association, PICO United Florida, and other local groups.

Orange County voters, already robbed once after getting more than the 50,000 signatures needed to get earned sick time on the ballot, refuse to be robbed again.

In Tallahassee, victims of wage theft and faith leaders joined Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez at a press conference urging legislators to stop SB 1216 and HB 1125.  They argued that the bills would not only ban local wage theft ordinances but would place new impediments in the current, ineffective process for victims to recover stolen wages.

Participants emphasized that both of these bills are an attempt to overstep home rule at the expense of workers and their families, law-abiding businesses, and local economies.

Except for one hitch: You get to spend more time with your family only after you’ve been forced to spend more time at work away from your family. And your boss gets to decide when you take that extra time you’ve earned.

After some reflection on why women have deserted the Republican Party, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor gave a speech laying out the GOP plan to “Make Life Work” for working families.

Enter the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, sponsored by Rep. Cantor and his Tea Party colleague Rep. Martha Roby. Instead of being paid time and a half for overtime, workers may be offered comp time – a paid hour and a half off in the future in exchange for an extra hour on the job this week.

Need to go to your kid’s school play? Take your dad to the doctor? Heck – you could even save time for when the baby is born. Whatever you like.

Here’s the problem: the boss may decide that the slot you requested could “unduly disrupt” the business, reject your request, and tell you to take the time when work is slow. The comp time you are allowed to use may not coincide with your kid’s play, your dad’s cholesterol check or the baby’s arrival – but hey, we can all be a little flexible, right?

Also, those who need overtime to pay the bills are likely to be passed over when the overtime shifts are assigned; for them this bill represents a pay cut. Supervisors may well prefer co-workers who say they’re fine with comp time instead.

Workers already have a working families flexibility bill – it’s called the Fair Labor Standards Act, passed 65 years ago. Because workers had been burdened by inordinate work hours, the new law put a 40-hour-a-week limit on how much employers can require employees to work and a price on additional hours.  That created a disincentive for employers to force workers to spend more time away from their families.

This new Cantor/Roby bill does nothing to address mandatory overtime.  By making it possible for employers not to pay for overtime and offer comp time at an unspecified future date convenient for the employer, this bill provides an incentive to require long hours on the job.

Right now, there’s nothing stopping employers from letting employees rearrange their schedules to fit in a school play or doctor’s appointment. It’s standard practice at many firms.

And those who work a lot of overtime and don’t need more money can take unpaid days off. That, too, is an option now.

This bill may declare that employees, not employers, can choose whether or not to take comp time or pay, but it ignores the reality that most workers have no control over their hours or working conditions. Violations by employers of wage and hour laws are rampant, and many unscrupulous employers take advantage of a weak economy in which workers fear for their jobs if they speak up.

In many cases, employees will work extra hours and accrue comp time they will never be paid because employers will declare bankruptcy or go out of business.

During the debates in the 1990s on this issue, the corporate-funded National Federation of Independent Businesses promoted the idea of comp time because it gave them “something . . . [to] offer in exchange” for getting overtime hours.  Put simply, comp time as envisioned here gives the employer more control over scheduling and the employee less money to earn.  Rep. Cantor saying his plan is meant to help working families does not make it so.

Want to make life work? Ensure people don’t have to work extra hours to cover the basics or care for their families by:

• guaranteeing they can earn paid sick days.
• making family and medical leave more accessible and affordable.
• fixing the minimum wage to adjust for lost value and index it to inflation. (If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would be $10.56 per hour.)
• guaranteeing minimum hours and predictable schedules, so that millions of workers can earn enough and plan their family time.
• passing equal pay measures.
• removing barriers to collective bargaining.

Workers desperately want more time with their families, more control over their hours, and fair compensation.  The Cantor/Roby bill would make it harder for them to have any of the above.

In just two weeks, the movement for paid sick days has seen three victories – in Portland, Oregon, Philadelphia, and most recently, New York City. Local coalitions in each place encountered fierce opposition, and yet the wave of wins continues.

Why now?

Because people need it, demanded it, and built the capacity to win.

Yes, hardball politics played a role. But what carries the day is strong and smart organizing by coalitions deeply rooted in their local city or state while linked to a growing national movement.

The need for paid sick days grew more urgent in a bad economy. During the recent flu outbreak, many of the 44 million without paid sick days had to watch public officials on TV telling them to stay home if they had flu symptoms, knowing if they followed these instructions they might not be able to keep the lights on or buy their child a needed inhaler.

Hard times are the worst time to lose a job for being a good parent or safeguarding public health.

A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the need – and coalitions have shared that research, while putting faces to the statistics by collecting stories that show the consequences of having to work sick or being punished for refusing to abandon an ill loved one.

Among the documentation disseminated by our coalitions is research showing that earned sick time boosts the economy by helping workers stay employed and have money to spend. Small business owners cite lack of sales as the greatest obstacle to recovery. As employers like Freddy Castiblanco, owner of Terraza 7 Live Music in Elmhurst, New York, tell colleagues, “”Lack of paid sick days has consequence for business as well as workers, in my community. Those workers are my customers.”

Each coalition has identified local economists who say policies like earned sick time help stop job loss and strengthen the economy.  It also helps lower turnover, boost productivity and lessen health care costs.

And the flu season also reminded those who have sick days how many people they come in contact with do not.

Given the need and the benefits, it’s not surprising that support for such policies is enormous. Polls have demonstrated the overwhelming popularity of earned sick days across all demographics and throughout the political spectrum.

Broad, Deep Coalitions

Above all, local activists have brought together a wide range of groups who have a stake in making sure that no one has to jeopardize their health or the health of a loved one in order to stay employed.  They’ve built coalitions made up of groups that care about seniors, women, children, labor, chronic diseases and public health; groups that want to end violence and end poverty; business owners and experts in economic development; those who fight for racial justice and equality for the LGBT community; faith groups and those who care about democracy.

Key to success has been engaging workers who know all too well what it means to lack paid sick days – people like Shayna, a therapeutic activities worker at a nursing home in Philadelphia who had to work with an injured hip, or Tamara in New York, who after caring for her sick daughter had to decide whether the lost pay meant going without a metro card or without a phone.

Local business partners are also important, because they help shatter the identity theft of corporate lobbyists who claim to speak for all employers.  Small business owners like Leni Juca, owner of Oxium Print and Copy in Queens, New York, say their employees already earn paid sick days because it’s the smart as well as the right thing to do. “With a small business like this one,” Juca said, “we can’t afford to get each other sick.”

In each city, coalition partners have reached out to their constituencies, bringing their voices to decision-makers and the media – and keeping the heat on.

Which Side Are You On?

These community leaders have had a clear message for political leaders:  standing up for earned sick time means valuing families and standing with all of these groups. Opposing it means standing with lobbyists for multi-billion dollar corporations like Comcast in Philly. As the New York Times put it, the win in New York “represents a raw display of political muscle by a coalition of labor unions and liberal activists who overcame fierce objections from New York’s business-minded mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, and his allies in the corporate world.”

And more and more, politicians are getting the message.

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. And we’ll stay organized until every single person is able to care for themselves and their loved ones without risking a paycheck or a job.

Leading political and administration figures in Washington, DC gathered on February 5 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act. From former President Bill Clinton who signed it into law to mothers who’ve used it to care for newborns, for a toddler faced with sudden deafness, and for a son with serious war wounds, everyone agreed:  the FMLA has been enormously beneficial for American families.

Speakers also agreed: it’s past time to make it available and affordable for everyone.

Vivian Mikhail (to the left of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi above) from the Maine Women’s Policy Center, one of the 20 member coalitions that make up Family Values @ Work, described the two times she used FMLA: once for the happiest of reasons, the birth of her daughter Nadia in 2004, and 16 months later for “the most unexpected, terrifying, and all-consuming reason,” when her daughter suddenly became very ill with an auto-immune disease that left her deaf in both ears.

Nancy Pelosi and the other Representatives who were present were visibly moved to hear Vivian describe all the appointments, therapies, American Sign Language lessons and hospital stays for her daughter’s bilateral cochlear implants. “Unpaid leave was hard,” Vivian said, “but without FMLA, we would have suffered financial loses likely too great to recover from during Nadia’s childhood, as I was the primary wage earner in our family and the source of health insurance.”

The experience led Vivian to become an activist to make sure that no family is forced to abandon a loved one in a time of need.

(To watch the event on CSpan, go to http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/310829-1.)

Earlier in the day, Vivian and other FV@W representatives and their kids visited with staff from Rep. Chellie Pingree’s office.

Camara Hudson, daughter of Carol Joyner from the Labor Project for Working Families, talked about being a camp counselor during an outbreak of lice among campers. The staff sent the children home, but one mother had to bring her daughter back every day in order to keep her job. Camara, age 17, has become an activist as well.

Rep. Pelosi’s press event was followed by a celebration at the Department of Labor, whose Wage and Hour Division oversees education and enforcement for the FMLA. President Bill Clinton appeared as a surprise guest, along with former Senator Chris Dodd, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Tina Tchen, head of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris.

President Clinton reminded the audience that “laws are not meant to be monuments. They must change with the times.”  He specifically mentioned family leave insurance, paid sick days, and including care for grandparents.

FMLA is the issue people most thank him for, Clinton said, noting that “every time FMLA is used, there’s a story.” He described a flight attendant who told him about using FMLA when her mother had a stroke and her father suffered from Alzheimer’s. “Family values should include time for a dying parent,” she said.

“People desperately want to have successful families, to be good parents, to have a job and succeed at it,” said Clinton. “”If you take one away to get the other, the country pays a grievous price and every life is diminished.”

President Barack Obama echoed these sentiments in a statement on Tuesday. “Not all employees are covered by the law, and oftentimes workers cannot afford to take unpaid leave,” he said. “So as we mark this anniversary, let us also recommit ourselves to the values that inspired the law and redouble our efforts on behalf of fairer workplaces and healthier, more secure families.”