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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1987)
Senate approves amended parental-leave bill By Stanley Nelson Of Ik* Kmartld SAUKM — A state-mandated parental leave policy is one step closer to becoming reality for Oregon employees as the Oregon Senate passed an amended bill requiring employers to grant requested leave on Tuesday. House Bill 2321 would make it unlawful for an Oregon employer of 25 or more employees to refuse to grant an employee request for parental leave of absence for up to the Legislative issues k. X first 12 weeks of the birth of the employee’s infant. It also ap plies to the date an employee takes physical custody of an adopted child less than 6 years of age. In the case of a premature birth, the leave can be extended until the infant reaches the developmental stage equivalent of 12 weeks. The bill, passed 22-6. now goes back to the House for reconsideration. The original wording applied only to women and proposed requiring Oregon employers of 15 or more employees to grant parental leave if requested Men could take leave only under special circumstances. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the fami ly because of the increased number of both spouses in the workforce, said Sen. Larry Hill, O-Springfield, chairman of the Senate l.abor Committee. The traditional non-worker, whether man or woman, raising the children in the household is not an option for many. Hill said. Both the father's and mother's needs must be accom modated. he said. Hill quoted Oregon Commis sion on Childcare testimony taken in Senate labor Commit tee. which states a minimum of 12 weeks time is necessary for proper child/parent bonding, as support for the bill. If adopted, employers may re quire parents to give 30-day notice to take the leave. The employee seeking parental leave would have the option to use accrued vacation, sick or other compensatory leave dur ing the period. The measure will take effect |an. 1. 1088. if passed. If an employee fails to give re quired notice, the employer may reduce the parental leave allowed by three weeks. Both parents cannot take a leave of absence simultaneous ly. but the leave may be divided among the two parents, each taking part of the 12-week leave. In addition, the leave is not required to be granted with pay unless specified by agree ment or policy. The bill exempts employers from complying if the employee has worked for less than (H) days prior to the first day of parental leave, if the employee has been hired on a seasonal or tem porary basis for a time defined at the time of hire for less than six months or if the employer offers its employees other non discriininatory options to parental-leave benefits. “The bill goes a long way In addressing one of society's more important problems." said Sen. Anthony Meeker. K Amity There is a special burden placed on the household when both spouses are in the workforce, he said. Sixty-two percent of women are in the workforce today, and Et al. MEETINGS Alpha Kappa Della, sociology honor society, will hold ail organizational meeting today at 5:30 In Koom 700 PI/'. All sociology majors and minors are welcome to attend EMU Board will meet today at 3:30 In the hoard room The agenda includes Child Cart* and EMUB Governance Documents The New Student Host Pro gram will have its final host meeting tonight at 7 in Gerl inger Lounge Since this is the last meeting of the year, we en courage anyone who has signed up to be a host, or anyone who is interested in being a host, to attend. We promise, it'll be worth the wait! Alpha Kappa Psi. profes sional business fraternity, will have a general business meeting tonight at 6:30 in Koom 330 Gilbert. Guest speaker will be Charlie Cole. The public is invited. LECTURES Environmental l.aw lecture: "Regulating Federal En vironmental Policy by Citizen Suits” by law professor Mike Axline tonight at 6 in Room 214 Allen. The Rev. Colin (ones, a black Anglican priest from South Africa, speaks on “The Spirit of Apartheid” at a Hrown Hag Forum today at 2:30 p.m. in the EMU Forum Room. MISCELLANEOUS A Woman’s Sexuality Sup port Group is being offered for women concerned about being lesbian or bisexual and need support. Gall Donna Gould at DeBusk Counseling Center, 080-3418 I .earn how “Fat is a Societal Issue" and how cultural in fluences affect personal hotly image and eating behavior. Eating Disorder Peer Health Ad viser Alicia Sloan and Fitness/Weight Peer Health Ad viser Kristin Dunkleberg will lead a lunchtime discussion to day at 12.30 in EMU Century Room A. The Outdoor Program is featuring the video “A Breath of Whitewater" today at 12:30 in the Outdoor Program room in the basement of the EMU The video will give viewers a taste of Idaho’s Payotte and Snake Rivers. Deadline for submitting Et als to the Emerald front desk. 300 EMU. is noon the day before publication. Et als are run only once. Events with a donation or admission charge will not be considered. women's needs need to be recognized as well as men who choose to be caregivers for the newborn. Meeker said. Fifteen percent of the women in Oregon with children less than t year old art; in the workforce. Sen Frank Roberts. D Portland. said the bill illustrates the basic underlying problems of society and seeks to correct the problem at the origin. By allowing more time for parent/child bonding, it may lead to fewer problems in the family household in the long run. he said While fact* support the need for a mandatory parental leave policy, the bill will change the hiring practices of Oregon employers, making It more dif ficult for women to find work around the slate, said Sen. John Hrenneman, R-Newport, who opposed the measure Sen. Grattan Koran*. D Eugene, said ho disagrees with Brenneman's argument. Because the bill is non-gender, discrimination is no longer an issue. Both the father or mother would have utyual opportunity to take parental leave. ho said The exemption for employers of less than 25 (Hirst)ns excludes 300.000 employees in the state, kcrans said. keruns called the measure the state's first concerted effort to pass a parental-leave bill, and he said he expects it to pass. "This is an excellent, ex cellent piece of legislation." he saiti "It may provide a plan where families may !>« able to mesh together both career anti family needs." Movim*ento Estudiantil Chicano da Aztldn Chicano/Latino Student Union Second Annual Conference WORKING TOWARDS AN IMPACT MEChA, the Chicano/Latino Student Union, is formally inviting you to attend our Second Annual Chicano Conference: Chlcano Issues: La Migra, La Escuela, y El Campo: Working Towards an Impact. The conference will be held at the U of O campus on Thursday & Friday, May 21st and 22nd. We invite you to share our culture and our ideas. This year's conference is directed to the Univer sity, the administrators, the professors and the students of the U of O who can offer support to the success of the Chicano/Latino students on campus Through our conference, we want to create awareness and bring attention to 1) the discrimination by color and ancestry that the new immigration law will create, 2) tne high drop out rate of Chicano/Latino students creating the consequent under representation of this seg ment of the population in higher education, 3) the health conditions and labor problems that our Chicano/Latino population encounter in the fields Our obiective is to work towards seeking solutions The workshops we have organised are the follow mg La Migra and its repercussions with the Chicano/Latino population, La Escuela and how to recruit and retain Chicano/Latino students; high school and college Issues El Campo health, labor, and environmental issues We have chosen several reputable leaders and scholars in our Chicano/Latino community to speak and lead workshops at the conference and assist us in meeting our objectives Our keynote speaker is Dolores Huerta, the Vice President of the United Farm Workers, a fiery leader of farm working causes She has worked with Cesar Chavez since 1986 Huerta is one of the main negotiators for the UFW and has spent considerable time in Sacramento, California and Washington D C , helping push through legisla tion favorable to farm workers Antonia Castaneda is active in the Chicano movement and has spoken at many conferences Casteneda is the co-editor of one of the first an thologies of Chicano literature, Literatura Chicana She is completing her Ph D in history at Stanford University, with a specialty in labor history in the Southwest Currently, Casteneda works at the Office of Affirmative Action at California State University. Sacramento Jose Montoya is one ol the outstanding and bet ter known Chtcano poets who has been invited to read in Europe Presently, Montoya is a pro lessor ol Art at California State University. Sacramento, where he has taught lor 20 years In addition to teaching art, Montoya is a musician and an artist Last year. Montoya took his slide presentation, “Chicanos the Endangered Species-' to Pans and received a standing ova lion He has published a book ol Chicano poetry, Los de Ahajo, and is currently working on another book Thursday, May 21st 5 00-6:30 pm Registration of participants • Guest speakers and social mixer reception with music 6 30 Spanish Choir 7:00 Mariachi 8:00 Introduction of guest speakers by MEChA director Poetry reading by Jose Montoya 8:30 Folkway Dance Group " Location: Room 167, EMU Friday. May 22nd 9:00-9:30 am Registration of participants 9:30-9:50 General Session (Introduction) WORKSHOPS 9:50-10:20 Chicano/Latino Education: Manuel Pacheco 10:20-11:20 Chicano History: Antonia Castaneda 11:20-12:20 pm Immigration: Ramon Ramirez 12:20-1:30 LUNCH 1:30-3:00 Keynote Address: Dolores Huerta 3:00-4:00 Art Show, (Chicanos. the En dangered Species) by Jose Montoya 4:00-4:30 Discussion (Wrap up): Jose Montoya ’ Location: Room 129, Law School For more information call MEChA 686-3508 University of Oregon Spring of 1987 Admission is Free.
