Today, our state president, Patricia Bellasalma, spoke at the Capitol in support of AB 880 (D-Gomez) which would force Walmart and other large corporations to stop their current practice of dumping employees onto Medi-Cal where taxpayers end up shouldering the burden of their healthcare costs.
Here's the text of Patty's speech:
"California NOW stands in partnership with Assemblymember Gomez because he stands in partnership with the Women of Labor who are here today working to enact AB 880.
We are all here gather together on the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Equal Pay Act in solidarity over our commitment in working towards a more just and fair society. Equal Pay for Equal Work - 50 years women have been working for justice – for fairness. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived. We are still waiting for our work to be equally valued and respected.
We are here because we know women represent nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers in this country. That means millions of women living well below the poverty level. That isn't by accident - it's because of what some in our society have chosen to value and not value.
We are here because we know that true prosperity for everyone will occur when we equally value early education and childcare because doing so breaks the cycle of poverty.
We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone is a living wage that includes universal healthcare and a defined benefit pension.
We are here because we know true prosperity for everyone means an economy that recognizes and values everyone’s economic contributions.
The truth is, we - as a society - make a decision every single day as to what we value. We are here because we know that we still live in a society that values traits and jobs labeled male over traits and jobs labeled female.
When we pay a plumber $100 an hour yet pay the person who cares for our children and our aging parents just $10 an hour, we're making a decision as to what we value. I want you to think about that. Why do we place greater value on the person who fixes our toilet over the person who cares for our children?
Care work is often called "noble," but only when that work is free or close to it. Women in California provide $47 billion annually in unpaid care work. It’s time for our work to be economically counted. It’s time for California to also enact a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. It’s time for the Legislature and the Governor to also adopt the Mitchell Plan for Cal-Works.
Here in California, we need and must to do better. Enacting AB 880 is another important step in doing better. We are here because this bill will protect women’s health. Medi-Cal already has a shortage of doctors. It is women and other low-income workers who will suffer from lack of access to healthcare if big corporations take advantage of a loophole that will allow them to dump 400,000 workers onto Medi-Cal at taxpayer expense.
It’s bad enough that Walmart and other big corporations pay workers so little that they qualify for government assistance, while also failing to pay their fair share of property and other taxes that pay for that assistance.
We are here because Walmart and other large corporations are cutting worker hours so they can continue to shift their fair share of responsibility for healthcare onto California taxpayers.
We are here united to protect women’s health - to protect all taxpayers by closing the Walmart loophole. We are here in support of AB 880.”
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