Op-Ed: Rep. Tom Stanley Has 'Outstanding History' on Women's Rights

WALTHAM, MA – The following letter to the editor was sent by Waltham resident and Executive Director of the Home Care Aide Council of Massachusetts Lisa Gurgone.

Dear Editor:

As a resident of Waltham and an advocate for women’s and elder issues throughout the Commonwealth, I would like to commend Representative Tom Stanley for his outstanding history of standing up for women’s rights. During his tenure as a state representative, he has consistently supported policies that protect rights for women.

Just this past summer, during the budget debate, Rep. Stanley supported the Senate’s inclusion of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) which protects pregnant workers against discrimination in the workplace. The bill’s goal was stop to workplace injustice against pregnant women by amending current legislation to include pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, including the need to express breast milk for a nursing child.

Further, the PWFA prohibits employers from not hiring or firing a worker from her job based on pregnancy; requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, including such accommodations as a stool to sit on, more frequent bathroom breaks, allowing the worker to carry a bottle of water, or providing a private non-bathroom space for lactation; and prohibiting an employer from requiring an employee to take paid or unpaid leave because of pregnancy.

He also supported and cosponsored House Bill 784, legislation providing for equitable coverage in disability policies. The bill would prohibit gender discrimination in disability, accident or sickness insurance policies. The bill would require that all disability policies be gender-neutral. Currently women pay more for a policy even though they perform the same job and this bill would end that discrimination.

Rep. Stanley also supported the Gender Wage Act which gives women across Massachusetts a level playing field in terms of equal pay. The bill, which promotes salary transparency and encourages companies to conduct reviews to detect pay disparities, will give our state the strongest pay equity statute in the nation while helping dismantle the gender wage gap. Initiatives to combat pay equity are particularly important when we look at professions traditionally seen as "women’s work" such as caring for the sick, elders and young children which remain underpaid given the skill, effort, and responsibility required. All of the above-mentioned legislation are important to women across MA. I am not surprised that NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts has endorsed Tom Stanley’s re-election campaign for state representative.

On behalf of women’s issues, please vote Tom Stanley on November 8th .

Sincerely,

Lisa Gurgone, Waltham resident and Executive Director of the Home Care Aide Council of Massachusetts

The views expressed in this letter are solely the writer's and not reflective of Patch.

Image via Rep. Tom Stanley Twitter