On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Healthy Families Act , which would give workers the opportunity to earn paid sick leave they could use for personal illnesses or to take care of sick family members, among other uses. The act also would allow workers to use earned sick time to deal with the effects of domestic violence.

Today, women make just 77 cents for every dollar made by a man for equal work, about $434,000 over their careers. Sponsors of the reintroduced Paycheck Fairness Act, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), say the proposed bill will help  close that gap . The pair has introduced the bill several times in recent years, but Republicans have been able to block action  on the bill, most recently last summer with a Senate filibuster.

If the nation’s workers had access to paid sick days—today, 44 million workers don’t—it would mean a dramatic  drop in hospital emergency room visits and save about $1 billion a year in health care costs, according to a new study due to be released this week.

Workers from the front lines of the corporate-led assault on America’s middle class, including working people from Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin, will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow to describe their struggles to keep their bargaining rights so they can bargain for a middle-class life.