Neese: It's time for U.S. labor law to enter the 21st century, dream is fading for some women

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/660777.html

Kay Granger and other Republicans recently unveiled the American Families Agenda -- not a moment too soon.
By TERRY NEESE
Special to the Star-Telegram

Work is good. The satisfaction that comes after a good day's work -- and seeing a tangible result -- is at the center of our identities.

But for women who work outside the home -- an unusual circumstance in the 1930s, when most labor laws were written -- that satisfaction can be complicated.

Rigid labor laws function in ways that can deny working women the opportunity to attend a child's soccer game or take a parent to the doctor one week and make up the hours the following week. Women need the ability to bend schedules in order to care for aging parents or, increasingly, an aging spouse. Our old-fashioned labor laws will not allow women to have this reasonable flexibility.

There's no reason to leave laws or policies in place when they impede our economic choices. Many changes are needed to bring aging institutions into sync with 21st-century life. We need to get started in making those sensible and overdue changes.

Rep. Kay Granger and other Republican members of Congress recently unveiled the American Families Agenda, which includes ideas that can help ease the regulatory burdens facing America's working people. They're not a moment too soon.

I've been blessed by the dynamism and vibrancy of the American dream. But these days, that dream is fading for some women.

FULL story at link.