Stone the bloody crows (via Club Troppo)…
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As a new father, I would just like to say that I find it fucking ridiculous that maternity leave is still being discussed as something that is an option rather than something that is essential and should be supported by the rest of the community.
Where’s ‘No MA’AM’ when ya need them.
And we don’t stop
and we won’t quit!
xox
Bah!
What do people think about the proposal to spread the cost of the scheme across society? Would seem to me that basically this is making the workers pay for what companies bloody well should have to.
They’ve totally hijacked the debate with that right-wing proposal and nobody seems to be clearly rejecting it in favour of company-paid leave!
Let’s get something straight about maternity leave Blue Milk
Paid Maternity Leave Penguin Unearthed
‘I will not offer up my sisters on the altar of patriarchy’
^ win win win win win
Those articles are very much liberal responses… Anything slightly more radical?
Obviously maternity leave is a massive step up from nothing, but it seems that there is a big opportunity now to determine the nature of the system created. I think it is a shame that unions are being so soft on this issue. Sure, in a post-revolutionary world the impact of such programs can and should be spread throughout society, but in this context I think we should be pushing for company-paid leave.
Although that might result in companies refusing to hire women, so maybe we should just push for universal parental leave.
What happens when two men adopt a baby?
Or two women… Are they both the mothers/fathers? Who gets the leave? Both? Well they bloody well should.
It seems to me that the most progressive way to minimise discrimination in the hiring and firing of women is to extend maternity leave to any/all parents in the context of a company-pays system. State subsidisation should be a fall back option.
But surely another reason we should push for universal parental leave is that women-only leave would only reinforce the socialised pressure on women to do un(der)paid housework, childraising duties and a whole lot more. Maternity leave is a step forward, but it would also seem retrenches these conservative assumptions.
There are some workplaces with general parental leave, like church and community organisations, many more that just have maternity leave. The basic award stipulations in many places (including in the community sector award last time I looked!) are still heteronormative in that you can only access certain forms of carer leave or family leave if your partner is of the opposite sex and so on and so forth. Adoption leave is different again, and the extent to which it exists is usually reliant on the militancy of the workforce – needless to say in the good old days, many student organisations had gender neutral carers, parental and adoption leave in their EBAs.
There are some obvious limitations on the extent to which you can just have universal and totally equalised parental leave. These being the basic problem of the fact that men don’t endure the physical aspect of childbirth which, C section or not, you still need weeks to recover from (so say my 6 aunties and cousins who are midwives – and people wonder why I don’t believe in breeding. PAINFUL AND POINTLESS! DON’T DO IT WOMAN!!! ENJOY BLADDER CONTROL WHILE YOU STILL CAN!). So for all the issues of not wanting to reinforce dodgy conservative parenting assumptions, the liberal responses have a point on that particular aspect of the whole messy business.
I think the idea of company leave is problematic. Sure, in heavily unionised workplaces and large companies, like Telstra or something, this is something to aim for, but in smaller workplaces it is just going to lead to ladies losing out on jobs.
Personally, I’m carbon trading. No kids = longer showers. I mean, how can you reduce your ecological footprint if you create more of them?
Say no to child restraints! Let the children play on the road!!!