Move over Death Panels... the Lactation Chambers have arrived!!

[cthulu2016]

Some background on the major league asshole they just had flaking for Romney—Staples co-founder Tom Stemberg. He is very, very concerned about Obama's "lactation chambers." (Needless to say, there is no mention in the ACA of "lactation chambers.&quot

Stemberg, a longtime supporter of Republican policies and candidates like Mitt Romney, complained recently that President Obama’s health care reform law hurts businesses by requiring them to provide what he dubbed “lactation chambers” for new moms who need to breastfeed at work:

Tom Stemberg, co-founder of mega-office supply chain Staples is questioning an Obamacare provision that discourages job creation by dictating employers funnel their capital into lactation chambers.

“Do you want [farming retailer] Tractor Supply to open stores or would you rather they take their capital and do what Obamacare and its 2,700 pages dictates – which is to open a lactation chamber at every single store that they have?” he asked. ...I don’t think every retail store in America should have to go to lactation chambers, which is what Obamacare foresees.

http://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/obamacare-dictates-retailers-open-lactation-chamber-every-single-store-staples

Stemberg was presumably referring to provisions in the Affordable Care Act that require employers to give lactating mothers “reasonable break time” to nurse their child, as well as “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public…” The place they provide for new moms does not have to be a dedicated room as long as it’s private and can be called into use when female employees need it.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/07/420595/staples-co-founder-complains-that-allowing-women-to-breastfeed-at-work-will-cost-jobs/

[progressivebydesign]

1. Uh oh. they should NOT piss off the young Moms. "lactation chamber" is basically a private area...

just like a "lounge" that they used to build for employees and such near the dressing rooms. Had a couch, a place to hang jackets, and was a place to quietly relax.

Lactation Chamber.. wtf? It's just a private place to nurse. But really.. how many women bring their newborn to work?

[vanlassie]

2. Its for pumping.

Women are now allowed a private place to pump. Not a toilet. And reasonable time. Not required to be paid, if it goes over the employer's allotted break time. The time and the place are required.

[Iris]

5. And would probably not be all that hard to set up.

It'd pretty much be a one time expense, wouldn't it?

[lunasun]

6. where I once worked they opened up an unused meeting room that had a lock on it

for the one person who was pumping milk and that was in 1980
get over it people
Office max or depot for me now

[vanlassie]

7. Right. Closet sized space. Or larger if a big employer.

Remind me not to shop at Staples.

[TheMightyFavog]

11. Where I work, It's basically the kitchenette for one of our meeting rooms.

It's got one of those folding camp chairs so a nursing mother can have a relatively comfy place to sit without taking up too much space when not in use and locks on the doors with do not disturb door hangers and some breastfeeding literature. It's a handy way to get some use out of the space (The kitchenette very rarely gets used anyways.) I think the last time I opened it up was to let someone in from the Public Health department to put in new literature last summer.

[Squinch]

24. It could be a chair with a curtain around it in a lounge rooms. No cost. No problem.

[leftynyc]

27. My boss lets all new moms use his

personal conference room for this. Quiet, private, can sit in a comfy chair and put her feet up. And he's been doing this since before the healthcare law was passed. Some people are just real human beings and some are not.

[reACTIONary]

40. That's the American way - thoughtful, creative problem solving - not whining and complaining (NT)

[cthulu2016]

3. .

[Gormy Cuss]

4. If Stemberg were a better business person, Staples would be SELLING lactation chambers.

Something like a port-a-john without the toilet would do the trick.

[jillan]

8. I am going to breathe down your neck so you don't have an abortion, but once that baby is out -

you and that kid need to get out of my way of me and my profits. And my tax dollars.

Republicans are heartless, hypocritical assholes.

[laundry_queen]

10. that's it in a nutshell. nt

[LAGC]

12. Yup.

That about sums it up.

[Butterbean]

29. Pretty much. SMDH.

The underlying message here is, of course, that all mothers should be home like good girls raising their children. Like decorations on the periphery for their husbands. It's also a subtle attempt at fueling the mommy wars. Nothing like pitting woman against woman in the name of motherhood choices.

[vanlassie]

9. I could not care less about Tractor Supply

But I know for a FACT that they employ women. So they need to get with the program.

Actually, this winter I was driving my car in a parking lot with a Tractor Supply, on my way to get gas when I was practically run off the road by what turned out to be a Tractor Supply employee. I reported him and the company claimed it was not their employee. I took pictures of the plates and sent them. They refused to respond. So I think they are not a respectable company. I wonder if they are connected to Staples?

[tomm2thumbs]

13. GOP men really HATE women and children - THEY want 1st crack at the lifeboats

no wonder they hate them -- they want to return to their money, not their families

[Scuba]

14. Did he mention the masturbation suites?

[Cairycat]

15. What the hell does that have to do with anything?

In the OP or otherwise?

[Scuba]

19. They're as real as the lactation chambers?

[Dont call me Shirley]

37. "Spit out my ice cream" funny

[bucolic_frolic]

16. I thought they were pro-life, pro-motherhood, apple pie

What a thing to rant against!

[Freddie]

41. "Pro-life" only means "in utero"

Once born, you're in your own. Especially new mothers and infants.

[Cairycat]

17. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are generally exempt

if they want to be. I would think that would apply to most individual Tractor Supply stores. See the section, "What about 'undue hardship' exemptions for smaller employers?" in this FAQ: http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Default.aspx?TabId=188

[vanlassie]

48. No actually the dept of labor, at least in California said they are going to take a very hard look

at any requests for "hardship." If your business hangs on the line based on single employee not being gone for 15 minutes, you will have to prove it.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. Oh the horror!!!

[krispos42]

20. I love it

This nutjob will force you to carry a baby to term, and all that financially implies (a massive amount of money compared to a person's earnings) but GOD DAMN YOU if you make a mega-corporation spend money on a closet with a door and a chair.

[marble falls]

21. Just one more reason to not shop at Staples.

[BootinUp]

22. Romney and Stemny would probably suggest the roof of the nearest

vehicle or building?

[Swede Atlanta]

23. I'll bet this jackass supports....

a ban on abortion even in the case of rape, incest and the mother's health.

If so he wants to force women to give birth but then, again not understanding basic human biology, doesn't want to give these mothers reasonable accommodation to pump their milk, something they must do. We are so frigging stingy in this country with maternity leave that mothers that breastfeed must pump.

[gollygee]

25. Tractor Supply Company?

This is really just another dog whistle from them. Women aren't important to them. Men men men men!

[mopinko]

32. because we all know

that no woman ever worked at a tractor supply, nor owned one, nor ever bought a tractor.

[sinkingfeeling]

26. Wow, another rich dude without a brain cell. How do they make it in business?

[HockeyMom]

28. Back to old days of not hiring women of childbearing age

Too many "problems". "You go to the bathroom too much during your period". Yes, heard that one back in the 60s. I said to that MALE boss that if I didn't he would have to buy me a new CHAIR every month. He got red in the face and never said anything again.

Yep, those were the days.

[Javaman]

30. So will breat pumps be listed as weapons of mass destruction?

It boggles the mind.

[Heather MC]

31. i worked at the Pentagon 10 years ago and after the birth of my son

I realized I had no where to go to bump breastmilk. and as all new mother's quickly find out when you need to express that milk out and you can't, it's. very painful. I would have to go into security closets to pump my milk. I didn't want to us a bathroom stall. that was disgusting to me. The problem was the security closets were open to anyone with access on at least three occasions I was walked in on by my bosses or other men on the renovation teams. it was so akward.

I wish their had been lactation chambers in the Pentagon it would have been nice. All of the new mother's at the time had similar stories of dealing with that issue.

[LeftinOH]

33. You just know he has a stash of Lactating fetish videos at home...

Seriously-- What kind of freak think up stuff like this?

[ocd liberal]

34. Even Morgan Stanley allowed me to pump at work!

I used an office in the back - we called it the dairy.

[Rozlee]

39. Back in the 80s, a good friend of mine worked as a

secretary in a machine shop in the Army. It was a novelty to the guys working with her, but they cleared out a used tire room and set it up for her with a couch. I have a feeling we've regressed to the point that you won't see that kind of chivalry much anymore. It's like a dam of venom has burst within conservatives that was holding back all this hostility against women, minorities, the poor, anyone who has different philosophies than they do. I've never seen such bile in my life. Well, I wasn't an adult during the 50s and 60s Civil Rights era and the feminist movement of the 70s, so I might not have a complete perspective on the picture.

[Freddie]

42. "Like a dam of venom burst"

Indeed, well said! Like all the abortion laws, passed or not, of late: red states are having a competition to see who can harass, insult, and just plain hate women more.

[daybranch]

35. chicken

why does this guy point at Tractor Supply? Is he afraid people will recognize he is part of Staples and might be boycotted by families?

[cactusfractal]

36. Hey, if allow new mothers to breast feed/pump...

How will we get their spawn onto the ADM/Kraft/Monsanto chemical formula and into the hands of minimum wage for-profit daycare or evangelical programming centers? Gotta break that maternal bond ¡muy pronto! and get that healthy loyalty to church and corporation programmed in!

[rlegro]

38. Point to bear in mind re STAPLES

Staples is a firm that emerged out of Bain Capital finagling, which may explain why its co-founder is such a rMoney groupie. Mentioned in the new Rolling Stone article about rMoney and Bain.

[phylny]

43. We already do this in our office.

One of the young women who works for me is pumping for her baby. I told her to put time on her schedule, and she's able to pump twice a day in peace, with no disruptions.

If you want to keep good employees, you let them know they're valuable, and you prove it by working with them when you can. This is a no-brainer.

[sarcasmo]

45. These wingers have no clue they are pissing off every voting block except white men.

[REP]

46. Oh for fucks sake. I'm no lactivist, but that's just STUPID

Allowing women a private, clean (non-toilet area) place to pump is not a horrible burden on anyone anywhere. Of course, it might make breast-feeding an option to working-class women instead of just middle and upper class women, oh horrors.

[tammywammy]

47. Where I work the lactation station was a janitorial closet.

I think it was a janitorial closet. They came in painted it, put in a counter, mini fridge, comfy chair and the door locks from the inside.