Washington, D.C. — Today, Paid Leave for the United States (PL+US) and more than a dozen partner organizations with millions of members nationwide have launched a grassroots ad campaign urging Congress to pass paid leave legislation in the upcoming recovery package. As a part of the 20 million Care Can’t Wait campaign and a week of action in anticipation of President Biden’s release of the American Family Plan, the campaign will feature a mobile billboard, online advertisements, and social media promotion, sharing the photos of hundreds of caregivers and parents across the country demanding Congress act on paid family and medical leave, among Congress’ return from Spring Recess.
The mobile billboard will drive along a designated route in Downtown Washington for three days (April 13-15), displaying the diverse array of caregivers and families who are fighting for national action around paid leave. Outside of Washington, partners will help to spread the message online by sharing a video of the campaign on social media.The advertising effort will also feature paid promotions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Partner organizations supporting the grassroots photo campaign in addition to PL+US include: Supermajority, Democracy for America, Paid Leave for All, Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, LUCHA, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Human Impact Partners, UltraViolet, Breastfeed LA, SEIU, Care Force, IATSE, Care Can’t Wait, the California Work and Family Coalition, Higher Heights, and Fight for $15. This effort follows the release of an open letter last month, signed by nearly 200 businesses large and small calling on Congress to advance paid family and medical leave policy for the country’s economic recovery as it rebuilds from the global pandemic.
Paid leave has long had bi-partisan support among voters, with polls consistently showing that upwards of 80% of Americans - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - want Washington to pass some form of national paid leave policy. The COVID-19 crisis has accentuated a long broken system for caregivers and parents of newborns. With broad business and voter support, the pressure is mounting on lawmakers to hear the voices of everyday American families.
“The fight for paid leave policy is driven by a wide-ranging base of parents, guardians, essential workers, teachers, small business owners and so many other everyday Americans,” said
Karin Roland, Senior Director of Campaigns & Digital for PL+US. “By displaying the faces of real caregivers in need of real support from Congress, we are making it clear that this is not an isolated request. Millions in this country need paid family and medical leave, and they need it now.”