On Friday, the Connecticut Senate passed a bill that would create a task force to study family medical leave insurance for the state's workers. The bill previously passed the House and now goes to Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) for his signature. The bill would assemble a task force to study the creation of a program to provide short-term benefits to workers who must take time off because of pregnancy, childbirth, non-work illness or injury, or to take care of a family member. Federal law already provides for unpaid leave in such situations, but states such as California and New Jersey also require paid time off in certain cases.

Gloria Johnson, 85, a founding member and former president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), died Feb. 13 at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, Md. She also served as an AFL-CIO vice president. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Gloria’s values and unapologetic stance for the full inclusion of women and minorities in the workplace and society will continue to inspire and improve the lives of working women and men….The barriers she broke and the foundations she helped lay will undoubtedly live on in history.

The Labor Project for Working Families recently released a series of new “Unions Win It” fact sheets on bargaining for work-family benefits such as child care, family leave, worker-controlled flexibility, low-wage worker benefits, paid sick days and more. Download the fact sheets from its website and stay tuned for more fact sheets to be released in the coming months.

Over at Forbes, Susan Adams notes that Steven Colbert took family medical leave to be with his mother, and asks: Does Law Protect Your Right to Do the Same?