AMHERST — During her first pregnancy five years ago, Liz Reinke of Oxford was working as a certified nursing assistant and secretary at a hospital in western Massachusetts when she faced discrimination she attributes to her being an expectant mom.
Her manager and supervisor at the hospital, which she did not name, continually compromised her well-being, asking her to work with a dangerous patient who was in restraints and with another suffering from shingles, and trying to give her an evening shift that conflicted with her school schedule.
“They just kept giving me assignments that were not appropriate,” said Reinke, who now works as a nurse after resigning from her position. She says she has seen other women face similar discrimination.
Reinke is hopeful that after testifying a year ago at the State House on behalf of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Legislature will enact the law before its session ends July 31.
“My biggest thing is women shouldn’t have to choose between the health of their pregnancy and the job that supports their families,” Reinke said. “I think this bill will provide protections we need.”
State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, has filed an amendment to the so-called “jobs bill” that would require that workers experiencing normal pregnancies be allowed concessions, including more bathroom breaks, extra water and stools on which to sit, without facing potential repercussions from their employers.
The amendment has support from MotherWoman Inc. in Hadley, which has spent more than two years evaluating pieces of legislation that would be effective, said Liz Friedman, program director at MotherWoman and founder of the Postpartum Support Initiative.
“Most people think these protections are already in place, and are quite surprised when they learn they’re not,” Friedman said.
MotherWoman worked with the Department of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts to find legislation that could assist pregnant women in the workplace, and that would end punitive actions against pregnant workers for being late to meetings or needing to have additional snacks.
Friedman said that such legislation would come at no cost to the state and minimal costs to businesses, with the biggest expense being the purchase of a stool. But the impact would be large and immediate for the state’s pregnant workers, with an estimated 41 percent being the primary breadwinners for their families, she said.
The bill’s supporters say it would also have a positive effect on the health and well-being of the state’s babies.
Between 80 and 90 percent of expectant mothers work until their eighth or ninth month of pregnancy. While most employers do the right thing, some employers don’t, and employees have no recourse unless they are covered through the Americans with Disabilities Act, she says.
“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is intended for those women who have normal pregnancies,” said Friedman, who is also chairwoman of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Coalition. That coalition’s partners include the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and Western Massachusetts Jobs for Justice.
A bill requiring labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms, which Story filed jointly with Rep. Todd Smola, D-Warren, last year, appears unlikely to get a vote, Story said, in part because House Speaker Robert DeLeo sets the agenda.
“It’s not on the speaker’s list of priorities to do by the end of the session,” Story said.
That bill is co-sponsored by 154 lawmakers. In November, she was among legislators making a push that adding so-called GMO labels is both the right thing to do for consumers. The idea is supported by her constituents in Amherst and Granby, which in 2006 Town Meeting votes opposed genetically engineered crops and supported laws adding labels identifying such products.
Even should it get a vote, any state law could be affected by the federal Roberts-Stabenow bill being considered by Congress.
That bill, if adopted, would prohibit states from labeling and would override a law that went into effect in Vermont on July 1.
Story said she also didn’t have time to file a bill that would replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day at the state level. In February, she pledged to Amherst Regional Middle School students that she would file a bill once Town Meeting agreed to change the name of the holiday in Amherst, which it did at Town Meeting in May.
“This will be something for the new state representative to do,” Story said, adding that she will advise her successor, who will be elected in November following a primary in September, on how to file legislation.
Story said she has no worries that whoever replaces her on Beacon Hill will take up the matter. “It is the will of Town Meeting,” she said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
