MILWAUKEE, Wis. — This morning, the City of Milwaukee Common Council passed ordinance #211166, which grants six weeks of paid parental leave to all eligible employees of the City of Milwaukee. The benefit can be taken once per calendar year, after the birth of child; miscarriage or stillbirth after 26 weeks of pregnancy; or placement of a child under the age of 5 through adoption, fostering, guardianship or acting in place of a parent.
9to5 Wisconsin State Director Christina Thor, issued the following statement:
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, the hardworking members of 9to5 Wisconsin, our partners and members of the community who worked on this for many months, every benefit-eligible City of Milwaukee employee can take up to six weeks of paid parental leave to bond with a child joining their family or to recover after losing a pregnancy.
“9to5 Wisconsin was excited to help gather support to pass this strong piece of legislation, which will ensure that working parents do not have to return to work days after giving birth or going through health challenges. We applaud our leaders who prioritized making Milwaukee a healthier place to live and work. The City of Milwaukee can now continue to lead the way to invest in our Wisconsin’s workforce.
“Paid leave is not only vital to rebuilding our economy, it’s a human right to safe, healthy, and equitable working conditions. Our workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect with family-centered policies that are meant to support our economic security and collective growth, not make us choose between resting after childbirth and losing our jobs
“We feel hopeful about the direction the City of Milwaukee is headed. This wouldn’t have been possible without the shared effort from our leaders, community members and partners, who all share a collective vision of co-creating a healthier workforce and community.”
