NORFOLK, Va. — State and local leaders hope to get you on board with paid leave for all through a national bus tour. Leaders met at Harbor Park pushing to get this policy passed at the state and federal levels.
Chrischa Ives was one of the speakers at the event. She spent eight years taking care of her sick daughter.
“It’s called Hardikar Syndrome and it’s so rare that most doctors don’t even know that it exists,” Ives said.
She said she struggled to find a job and that employers denied her because she needed to care for her daughter.
“Even trying to get part-time work, there is no paid leave for part-time work," she said. "So I had to live with my parents. No one wanted to hire someone who needed to be off so much.”
That’s why she and many others are pushing for paid leave for all. It would allow employees paid leave to care for a newborn baby or a sick loved one.
Many gathered at Harbor Park for the initiative Thursday morning. The Norfolk stop is part of the fourth day of the tour. Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All, said the United States is one of the only countries that doesn’t guarantee paid leave.
“We just think it’s important that no matter where you live or who you work for or who you love, that you should have this peace of mind that you don’t have to choose between your family and your paycheck,” Huckelbridge said.
Huckelbridge said with support from the White House and a proposal in Congress, the goal is to get this law passed now.