Press Release California
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Congratulates Marty Walsh on his Confirmation as Secretary of Labor
For Immediate Release: Monday, March 22, 2021
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, DC — Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Marty Walsh as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. Walsh, a long-time union member, previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston and a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives.
NARAL Pro-Choice American President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement in response:
“We congratulate Marty Walsh on his confirmation as secretary of labor. In this key role, Secretary Walsh has the opportunity to chart a new course for the Department of Labor that prioritizes women and families by advancing paid leave policies and strengthening worker protections. We look forward to working with Secretary Walsh to ensure that reproductive freedom is a reality for workers in America who should not have to choose between their jobs and starting, growing, or caring for their families.”
As the head of the U.S. Department of Labor, Walsh will play a key role in developing, promoting, and enforcing policies that expand reproductive freedom and benefit women and families by:
- Robustly enforcing the federal guarantee that workers can take job-protected family and medical leave and support passage of a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program
- Working with the Office of Personnel Management to ensure that federal workers are aware of their rights to paid parental leave under Federal Employee Paid Leave Act
- Ensuring that access to emergency paid leave and sick days is a priority in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Vigorously safeguarding working people from discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of pregnancy
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters have fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom—including access to abortion, contraception, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 7 in 10 Americans who believe every person should have the freedom to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to raise a family.