Democrats' Schedule That Work Act To Outlaw 'Unfair' Hours | The Daily Caller

Highlights of the bill according to Laura Clawson for Daily Kos Labor:

Protects Workers who Ask for Schedule Changes
All employees of companies with more than 15 workers will have the right to request changes in their schedules without fear of retaliation. Employers would be required to consider and respond to all schedule requests, and, when a worker's request is made because of a health condition, child or elder care, a second job, continued education, or job training, the employer would be required to grant the request unless a legitimate business reason precludes it.

Incentivizes Predictable and Stable Schedules in Occupations with Known Scheduling Abuses
Employees in food service, cleaning, and retail occupations—as well as additional occupations with documented scheduling abuses designated by the Secretary of Labor—will now get their work schedules two weeks in advance and will receive additional pay when they are put "on-call" without any guarantee that work will be available; report to work only to be sent home early; are scheduled for a "split shift;" or receive changes to their schedule with less than 24 hours notice.

What will be prevnted,

,,,These days it's common for workers to not know their schedules more than a week ahead; to be on call, ready to go to work with no notice, but not guaranteed any pay; for their hours (and therefore their paychecks) to vary enormously month to month; or to be forced to work split shifts, with a few hours of work in the morning and a few hours at the end of the day.

The repug or conservative reaction,,,

“This bill is extraordinarily intrusive in how it would direct employers to run their operations,” Marc Freedman, an executive director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said according to law firm Seyfarth Shaw’s Employment Law Lookout.

“It will not create new jobs, open up opportunities, nor spur economic growth,” he continued. “In fact, one potential consequence is that employers will cut back on the number of part time and other non-full time employees they carry.”

 But yet they have no issue in regulating a woman's vagina.

Democrats' Schedule That Work Act To Outlaw 'Unfair' Hours | The Daily Caller

Congresswoman sleeps in a homeless shelter - Politics Blog

So, I have highlighted some of the recent negativity surrounding homelessness and how states have been dealing with the issue(s). Let's look how one representative of Congress who is trying to put people behind the statistics, “It would help us appreciate who we are talking about. We rattle off numbers, but it doesn’t speak about the people themselves.”

Just as Neel Kashkari and Chris Murphy before her, Speier wanted to learn first-hand about poverty. Reminiscent of the SNAP challenge she partook in last year, this foray into learning about poverty lasted only one night.

But now, with the most extreme split in generations between rich and poor in America, the issue of want and inequality is more urgent than it’s been in a long time. Democrats have one way of approaching it, Republicans another. Speier thinks both sides of the aisle would find her experience at the Redwood City shelter instructive.

[,,,]
The point, she said, is that there were a lot of working poor with nowhere else to go. You don’t wind up in a homeless shelter because your life is humming along — plenty of homeless have mental, substance abuse or other troubles that threw them off line and need counseling to fix. But it seems an increasing number are landing in the street because, in this economy, they can’t make enough money at their jobs to pay for their own place to live.

“It was such a profound experience to realize that we have just allowed our safety net to fray to the extent that the people in poverty who are homeless are not all drunks on the street,” Speier said. The stereotype was never accurate, she said, and it’s less so now than ever.

{For those of you old enough to remember Speier's name may sounds familiar. In 1978 she was a member of Congressman Leo J. Ryan's entourage that was gunned downed at the beginning of the Jim Jones fiasco in Guyana. Shot 5 times she lay for 23 hours on the airstrip before being rescued. Nine hundred people lost their lives in that tragedy.]


Congresswoman sleeps in a homeless shelter - Politics Blog

A Senator Walks In A Homeless Man's Shoes | New Haven Independent

One caveat before I begin, I am very well aware that there will always be some type of suffering around us. I spoke of it briefly in regards to Stephen Fincher's asinine interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and how he, in his zeal, ignores Christ's teachings in Matthew, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

To those that say, "Stop using these poor people as propaganda." I ask, where the hell is the Reich. They sure didn't show any concern in June, when 26 Democrats took the SNAP Challenge to draw attention to House Republicans cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

And no, being poor does not highlight the Darwinian concept of survival of the fittest.  To borrow a bit from Aristotle, we are rational, thinking animals who are able to come together to form a society whereby everyone should be properly cared for.  Unless of course you are a member of the Reich. Mankind (should) continue to evolve as a society, the so-called law of the jungle, no longer applies.

Here's my point, have we learned nothing in our time on this flying rock we call home.  I am not asking for a Utopia here, just some order and stability. Imagine what we (as a nation) could accomplish if everyone had, at the very least, the basic necessities of life; food  and shelter (see also this innovative idea: Could a Tiny House Movement End Homelessness?) And yes, I do blame the Reich for their greed, nothing good ever happens when a select few keep everything for themselves when there is more than enough to go around. It is impossible to have a stable society that way.

With that being said, I applaud Senator Murphy for at least exploring this issue by stepping "outside the boardroom."

“I learned what’s involved in getting out at 7:30 a.m.”—when the shelter expects residents to be up and about job searching, going to their support groups—“and keeping your life together until they let you back in” at 3 p.m., said Murphy.

[,,,]
“This is a guy who’s trying hard, with kids, trying to get a job back. He’s clean; he’s in recovery. He’s worked his entire life. His path is getting himself straight, and then he’s whacked by a bad economy,” said Murphy.

Of course the picture is complicated. Murphy said that he and Fred as they trudged also spent a lot of time talking about Fred’s difficult upbringing, the drug culture from which it’s difficult to break free.

[,,,]
Murphy said his eight hours on the hard urban streets with Fred didn’t so much provide new illumination as put flesh and bones and shoe leather on what he’d already perceived.

He did say that he was moved by the amount of hope and planning out there.

“As sobering as a day like this is, it’s slightly inspirational to hear these guys think there is still a better day coming. Each of these guys has a path, but without the resources to execute the plan, they’re stuck,” he said.

A Senator Walks In A Homeless Man's Shoes | New Haven Independent

See also:
Senator Spends Vacation Day With Homeless Man To Learn About The Challenges He Faces

His drive to get back on his feet is clearly strong. What was really holding Nick back, however, was his lack of an address. Even though Nick has worked for 20 years and has an impressive résumé, he’s caught in something of a catch-22, Murphy told ThinkProgress by phone Thursday. “He can’t get a job without a permanent address and can’t get a permanent address without a job.” Nick used the address of the shelter on applications, but some employers might harbor prejudice against those who can’t afford a home.

If there’s one thing Murphy took away from the experience, it’s a better sense of how critical stable housing is as a foundation for solving other problems. “Without a place to live, Nick can’t find a job,” Murphy said. “Without a house, it’s much harder for him to kick his drug habit.” But without more affordable housing in Connecticut and funding for the poor, it’s extremely difficult for people like Nick to leave the shelter and break out of the cycle of poverty.

The challenge became even more difficult this week as Nick’s only source of income — $100 in unemployment benefits — wasn’t renewed by Congress. “If we don’t extend unemployment benefits this month, you’re going to see a lot more homeless people here in Connecticut and across the country,” Murphy said.