Archive for the ‘Women’s Issues’ Category
New Issue of Agenda: the Glass Ceiling, Elizabeth Holtzman, Transit Equity, and More!
The new issue of WCC’s Newsletter, Agenda, is now available!
Our newsletter reports on the WCC’s recent advocacy actions, public programs and special events.
Highlights of the current issue include:
- Trailblazer Elizabeth Holtzman
- The Push for Transit Equity
- How Foundations are Faring
- Widening Cracks in the Glass Ceiling
- Under 35 Launch
- Member News
And more!
View the current issue online here. Copies are available at the WCC office, so be sure to pick one up the next time you stop in.
Previous issues are available online.
May 18 – A Women’s History Walking Tour
Discover the rich history of women’s influence in lower Manhattan on a walking tour, researched, written and led by Betsy Wade, author of the New York Times Practical Traveler column for 14 years and her husband, historian Jim Boylan.
We’ll visit sites associated with, and learn about, pioneer women writers, agitators, abolitionists, suffragists and activists, as well as three heroes of September 11th. Feel the impact of their lives and absorb a sense of the worlds in which they lived and worked.
You may wish to join the group for a dutch treat lunch after the tour.
Date and Time:
Friday, May 18th, 10:15 AM
Venue:
Meet the group at the offices of Women’s ENews, 6 Barclay Street. Take the No.2 or 3 train to Park Place, the No.4 to Fulton Street or the N to City Hall. Barclay Street is West of Broadway, between Park Place and Vesey Street.
Registration:
$25 for members; $35 for guests. Reserve your spot here.
WCC Urges President Obama to reconsider cuts in funding to Women’s Bureau
Recently, President Barack Obama released his FY 2013 budget. Set to reduce discretionary spending by $1 trillion over ten years and including more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction, the budget includes a drastic 22 percent cut in the budget of the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor. The Women’s Bureau is the only federal office exclusively concerned with serving women in the workforce.
In response, the WCC urged President Obama to reconsider reducing the Bureau’s budget. As an organization dedicated to promoting equality and fairness, the Women’s City Club of New York feels that it is a grave mistake. How can the Women’s Bureau effectively do its job assisting women in the workplace with cuts of 22% and reduced staffing of 37%? These proposed cuts eliminate all but 35 full-time employees, nationally and regionally, and will reduce the number of regional offices by almost half, from ten to six offices. The practical solution is to strengthen the Women’s Bureau, both nationally and regionally, not weaken it.
The Women’s Bureau is the only federal agency aimed at serving and promoting the interests and economic security of working women—now fully half of the workforce. It does this mainly through national and regional programs which help educate working women. Much of this work depends on strong collaborative relationships with local organizations throughout the country.
The Regional offices are the lifeblood of coordination and communication with women locally. They understand the breadth and depth of the concerns and needs of working women. They work closely with local non-profit and volunteer organizations that advocate for women. In fact, it is through these crucial relationships that USDOL itself has been able to conduct almost all of its work advancing issues salient to women workers such as child care, pay inequities, sexual harassment, financial education, workplace flexibility and veteran women’s concerns.
This budget cut proposal, couched in terms of “saving USDOL money” by transferring $2.5 million from the Women’s Bureau budget to enforcement efforts at the Wage and Hour Division of DOL, would undo the work of the Regional offices and makes no fiscal or strategic sense. One of the Women’s Bureau primary functions is to educate women as to their work rights. The Women’s Bureau excels at this and knowing one’s work rights is an important, indeed, crucial precursor to enforcement. There must be some other source in the USDOL $12 billion dollar budget to support enforcement efforts. For working women there is no “savings” in diminishing the only agency in the federal government that serves as their voice.
Furthermore, any decision to have the national office of the Women’s Bureau limit the outreach of its regional offices and focus almost exclusively on research will simply duplicate some of the fine work already being done by a host of Washington DC-based organizations and educational institutions currently devoted to conducting research on women and work.
WCC also feels that it is a mistake to take away from the Women’s Bureau the Non-Traditional Employment for Women grants (WANTO). Employment growth—construction, manufacturing, high technology—all have historical and institutional barriers to women and have been a special focus of Women’s Bureau programs, including at the regional level. The national and regional staffs understand the WANTO grant well and have the key relationships and commitment to help it succeed. Taking away this function could well result in women losing important access to training programs and good jobs with economic security.
Finally, given the symbolic and historic significance of the Women’s Bureau, and the day-to-day commitment of the Women’s Bureau staff, both regionally and nationally, women leaders and their organizations see no sense at all in reducing the Bureau’s budget and personnel in any way. The Women’s Bureau was subjected to similar proposed budget cuts under a recent, former administration. Women fought back and won.
Marjorie Shea, Elections Specialist, Featured in NYC’s “Your Vote Counts” Campaign
Yesterday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg launched Your Vote Counts, a joint campaign of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, the New York City Commission on Women’s Issues, and NBC 4 New York/Telemundo 47 New York. Developed to raise awareness among New York City women about the importance of making their voices heard in the electoral process, Your Vote Counts combines print advertising, training programs, voter registration drives, digital promotion and PSAs in an effort to increase the number of women voters.
Launched in honor of Women’s History Month, Your Vote Counts features a diverse group of New York City women, each providing a reason – or reasons – why she votes. One of the women featured is the WCC’s Elections Specialist, Marjorie Shea, who votes for access to health care and for her family.
Honored last year as the WCC’s member of the year, Marjorie is a former teacher who joined the WCC more than 17 years ago. Today, she serves as a member of the Public Policy Committee and the Environment and Infrastructure Committee. She is known throughout NYC as the WCC’s Election Specialist for her expertise in election law and election reform issues. Through her efforts to make elections run more smoothly she helped with the implementation of new voting systems to record and count votes as well as having split-shifts for poll clerks and interpreters who were working long hours without breaks. We applaud you, Marjorie, for adding your voice to this campaign and helping to engage more New York City women in the voting process!
Be sure to add your support to this campaign and encourage everyone you know to vote. When the WCC was founded 96 years ago, women in America could not vote. Realizing that they would soon gain the ballot, 100 suffragettes gathered in New York City to found the WCC as their platform to examine local issues and influence public policy. Since our founding, the WCC has recognized the importance of voting: it is an effective way of making our voices heard on the issues we care about most. Sadly, today only 20% of eligible women voters in New York City actually vote on Election Day. This means that 80% pass up their opportunity to participate in the electoral process and directly impact the future of their communities. As Mayor Bloomberg stated in the press release announcing the campaign, “Our freedom to vote is the right that protects all our other rights, but that’s only true when we use it.” The WCC urges all women – and men – in New York City to exercise their freedom to vote. Your vote counts.
New Issue of Agenda: Sex Trafficking, MTA Budget, Gale Brewer and More
The New Issue of WCC’s Newsletter, Agenda, is now available!
Our newsletter, Agenda, reports on WCC’s recent advocacy actions, public programs and special events. Highlights of the current issue include:
- WCC 2012 Public Policy Priorities
- Stop Sex Trafficking
- 95th Anniversary Holiday Party
- MTA Capital Budget
- NYC Budget with Gale Brewer
- Theater Benefit
And more! View the current issue online here. Copies are available at the WCC office, so be sure to pick one up next time you stop in.
Previous issues are available online.
WCC Announces 2012 Public Policy Priorities
By Pam Elam, Public Policy Committee Chair
While the Women’s City Club of New York takes positions on many issues throughout the year, our Committees often select specific items upon which they wish to focus. Over the last two months, the Public Policy Committee has worked with the civic committee chairs and members to develop the following list of Public Policy Priorities for 2012. But as we all know, it is not enough to highlight issues. Working to implement the initiatives we highlight is always the major challenge. We may choose to support or oppose a piece of legislation, seek a new regulation or remove an old one, schedule meetings with our elected officials, join in coalitions with other good government groups, testify at hearings, organize programs or conferences on our issues, sign petitions or conduct letter/email/phone campaigns, send op-ed articles to the press, have our members interviewed by the media, as well as other avenues of activism.
Those avenues of activism must extend within the WCC as well. We need more WCC members to take part in the civic committees, form new committees, or jump-start old ones. The Public Policy Committee is always available as a resource and is willing to assist the committees in any way. The Public Policy Committee has also launched a Seminar Series to give WCC members the opportunity to participate in a “master class” on the key components of government led by the leading experts in the field. In the first seminar last November, Ronnie Lowenstein, Director of the NYC Independent Budget Office, explained how the NYC budget process really works. On March 29th, former Comptroller Liz Holtzman will join us to discuss the role of the comptroller in NYC.
In addition, the Women’s City Club has a number of signature issues that will be part of any year’s list of Public Policy Priorities. Those issues include, among others: fighting for equal rights and opportunities for all; achieving ethics, election, and campaign finance reforms; protecting reproductive freedom; improving public education through smaller class sizes, fair funding, and adherence to State mandates; and preserving and creating affordable housing. But for 2012 we add the following WCC Public Policy Priorities and seek your help in implementing them:
* Poverty Issues Committee Priorities: (1) Develop and Distribute 2012 Resource Guide to Services & Programs in Manhattan; (2) Examine effects of City, State and Federal budget cuts on those below or at poverty level — ask for a Congressional hearing in NYC; (3) Support access to education for those on public assistance — win passage of NYS bills S2323 and A2471 to allow specific educational programs and related homework to be counted towards satisfying work requirements for public assistance recipients; and (4) Monitor federal welfare legislation regarding continued TANF funding for those in need of temporary assistance.
* Women’s Issues Committee Priorities: (1) Sex Trafficking: Work with NYS Legislators to assure enactment of needed changes to the 2007 Anti-Trafficking Law and the Safe Harbor Act; (2) Reproductive Rights: win passage of the NYS Reproductive Health Act and work to have contraception included in the new Affordable Care Act; (3) Sex Education: monitor curriculum of the new sex education mandate in NYC public schools; (4) Pay Equity: continue working with the Equal Pay Coalition to enact the NYS Equal Pay Law; and (5) Creation of a Young Women’s Initiative.
* Health Committee Priorities: (1) Work in coalitions with other groups to promote policies to achieve universal health care coverage; (2) Promote policies to eliminate financial barriers to access quality health care; (3) Develop information materials and programs about health care reform under the Affordable Care Act for WCC members and the community; and (4) Advocate for policies to improve the quality of and access to health care for target populations including: (a) Adolescents, through such services as school-based Health Centers and physical education in the schools; and (b) The Aging Population, through such services as Long Term Care.
* Environment and Infrastructure Committee Priorities: (1) Fracking: call for strong regulations and greater accountability to protect the integrity of NYC’s water supply. Consider broadening WCC’s approach to include other aspects of the environment, and possibly agriculture insofar as it relates to increasing the food supply brought into the City from upstate New York; (2) Styrofoam: develop ways to press for its elimination or limited use; (3) Evaluate Urban Food production as a possible priority; and (4) Transportation and Infrastructure: co-host public programs and develop a follow-up agenda related to the MTA capital program (securing a lock box for MTA funds from State invasion, opposing service cuts, and advocating for well-maintained, clean, rat-free, safe subway stations).
March 15 – The Glass Ceiling, Then and Now
The Women’s Issues Committee will present a Women’s History Month program entitled “The Glass Ceiling, Then and Now.” The program will feature WCC Members Betty Ellerin, Barbara Zucker, and one of our under 35 members, Lindsey Mullholand, who will discuss their careers and the challenges they’ve faced in reaching their professional goals. Ellerin was the first woman appointed as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York for the New York City Courts, Zucker worked for 37 years at Swiss Re Group in various executive positions, and entrepreneurial Mullholand has started a dress company. Each WCC member will share her perspective on how women are viewed in the workplace and how close we are to achieving true gender equality and ultimately shattering the glass ceiling.
Audience members are invited to ask the speakers questions and share their own professional experiences.
Date:
March 15, 2012
Time:
Reception at 5:30 pm; Program at 6:00 pm
Venue:
33 West 60th Street, 5th Floor
Cost:
Free and open to the public. Due to limited seating, please reserve your seat here.