[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12629-S12630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ELEVEN CONNECTICUT ORGANIZATIONS, COMPANIES, AND MUNICIPALITIES NAMED 
                      TO WOMEN'S BUREAU HONOR ROLL

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate 11 
organizations, companies, and municipalities in my home State of 
Connecticut for being named to the honor roll of the Women's Bureau of 
the U.S. Department of Labor. This honor roll recognizes entities 
across the country that have made a commitment to working women and to 
a family-friendly workplace. Most Americans go to work each day worried 
about their health care, affordable and reliable child care, living 
wages, and job protection in times of family crisis. These 
organizations are trying to help alleviate some of these worries and 
should be applauded for their efforts.
  The 11 honorees from Connecticut are: Aetna Inc., the city of New 
Britain, the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, DCC/The 
Dependent Care Connection Inc., the Entrepreneurial Center at Hartford 
College for Women, GTE Service Corp., ITT Hartford, Phoenix Home Life 
Mutual Insurance Co., United Illuminating Co., United Technologies 
Corp., and the Urban League of southwestern Connecticut.
  These entities are helping working women to achieve better pay and 
benefits, to strike a better balance of work and family 
responsibilities, and to gain more respect and opportunity on the job. 
For example, flexible work schedules and interactive retirement 
planning software allow more women to pick up a sick child from school 
or help plan for their and their families' financial future. Other 
programs instituted by these family-friendly Connecticut organizations 
include discounted on-site day care, at-home offices, extensive 
prenatal care, and seminars to assist families with college planning.
  The American work force is changing. When The Department of Labor 
Women's Bureau was created by Congress in 1920, there were only 8.25 
million working women--less than 20 percent of our Nation's work force. 
Today, nearly 60 million women work for pay --almost 50 percent of our 
Nation's work force. Not only are more women working, but more women 
must work to make ends meet for their families. America's work force 
and families are facing new challenges and it is organizations like 
these 11 that deserve to be applauded for making innovative and 
constructive efforts to make their workplaces more family-friendly.
  As we applaud these honor roll members we must also remember that 
there are challenges that still need to be addressed in our changing 
workplace. By and large, American working women still have difficulty 
finding affordable child care, paid sick leave, and unpaid family leave 
during an extended family crisis. And let us not forget that women 
continue to face discrimination in hiring and promotion, as well as 
underpayment in comparisons to men with the same or similar 
credentials.

[[Page S12630]]

  Though we have made some progress, such as passing the Family and 
Medical Leave Act, it is obvious we still have challenges to overcome. 
So, let's applaud the companies, organizations, and municipalities on 
the Labor Department's honor roll for working women. And let's continue 
to struggle toward solutions to make every workplace a family-friendly 
workplace.

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