美国国家公共电台 NPR--A new breast pumping law, known as the PUMP Act, is now in effect

A new breast pumping law, known as the PUMP Act, is now in effect

Transcript¹

The recently enacted² PUMP Act requires most employers to provide private lactation spaces. NPR's Michel Martin talks to car dealership³ owner Jonathan Fowler, who embraced the idea several years ago.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Unlike every other affluent⁴ country, the U.S. has no national policy requiring paid parental⁵ leave. Most new parents have been able to get 12 weeks of unpaid⁶ leave since 1993, but since many people can't afford to take it, that means many go back to work while they're still nursing. And as advocate Liz Morris puts it, that leaves many parents with a tough choice.

LIZ MORRIS: Do I follow my health care provider's recommendations for giving my child human milk, or do I keep my job and earn an income?

MARTIN: Morris, a longtime legal advocate for working parents, helped draft bipartisan legislation called the PUMP Act. The new law would require most employers to provide private areas other than a bathroom where parents can pump breast milk. But we have found a businessman in Oklahoma who is ahead of the curve. Jonathan Fowler has had lactation pods in his car dealership for several years now. He put them in after his employees asked for them, and I ask him if he was surprised by that.

JONATHAN FOWLER: I think the personal becomes the passionate⁷, and for me, you know, becoming a father, prior to that, I was completely uneducated on breastfeeding, pumping and all of the things that go along with that. Forget about just the technical aspects of it, but just the emotional and the stress that can come along with it.

MARTIN: Tell me about these lactation areas. What do they look like? How do they work?

FOWLER: Yeah. So it's just a very clean, safe environment that you can just walk into. You can lock the door. It's well lit. It's got plugs for any type of charging equipment you may need or anything like that. And it's just a very simple, quiet, safe space that someone can go and utilize⁸ for pumping or for breastfeeding. And they're not there to make somebody feel like they can't breastfeed in public. It's just there for someone that wants that opportunity and that option for them. I think it's about raising awareness⁹. I think it's about providing options for everyone and just trying to have things available on the terms of what they're wanting.

MARTIN: What was the reaction to these stations when you put them in?

FOWLER: It was amazing. I mean, we've gotten tremendous feedback on that. And at the same time, we rolled out eight weeks of paid parental leave. Those two things in conjunction, I think really spoke¹⁰ to our commitment that we're trying to make just to working mothers and to working families that are trying to do their best in a highly stressful environment.

MARTIN: It's my understanding the lactation areas and the paid parental leave - that comes out of your budget. You don't get any government support for this.

FOWLER: That is correct. Yeah, that's something that we just decided¹¹ was worth the cost. And to be completely honest, it has been. I think that it's great that a company like ours is able to afford to be able to do that. There's certainly companies out there that can do that today if they want.

I think that it's important that the government is trying to incentivize, though, for small, locally owned businesses that maybe can't afford these types of things and try and help them be able to provide these opportunities. You know, gig workers are still not covered under the PUMP Act. There's a lot of people that still aren't covered that are going to need help. And there's a lot of businesses that just don't have the ability to invest the dollars needed for some of their spaces to be compliant¹² the way that they need to be, and, beyond compliance¹³, to be comfortable for the people that are using the space.

MARTIN: Are there any other initiatives that you have that would help that - if you had a bit more support?

FOWLER: I don't think there's ever a shortage of ideas that we're wanting to take on, but the one that I'm pretty focused on these days is paid parental leave. I love that we're at eight weeks. I'd love to see that go to 12 weeks someday. Today, we're not in a position to where I'd feel comfortable doing that on our own, but we are working towards that. And my hope is that the states, the federal government, whoever can legislate¹⁴ this - they'll start making paid parental leave more of a thing that has to be done. That's something that I see just a massive benefit for the people that are welcoming their new children home and as they're trying to reenter the workforce¹⁵, that it's just so much better for them, so much better for their kids.

MARTIN: That is Jonathan Fowler. He sells cars...

FOWLER: (Laughter).

MARTIN: ...A lot of them in a lot of places. Jonathan Fowler, thanks so much for talking to us.

FOWLER: Michel, thank you so much and have a great day.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

4 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

5 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

6 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

9 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

13 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

14 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

15 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。