The Peggy Browning Fund Summer Newsletter 2021

4 2021 Fellowship Alexis Boyd Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Washington, DC Alexis is a second-year law student at American University Washington College of Law. She is working at SEIU, in Washington, DC this summer and has found her experience to be truly engaging and eye-opening. Prior to clerking, she had little labor law experience, so at first, she felt like a fish out of water. However, SEIU has proven to be a warm, welcoming, and diverse environment, and all of the staff and attorneys have willingly answered her numerous questions. Staff attorneys have even helped with law school advice and connections to other attorneys in different public interest fields. Additionally, Alexis has assisted staff attorneys in different aspects of labor law, such as policy research, organizing campaign questions, and litigation around union formation. PBF and SEIU have also connected her to interns and other attorneys in the labor law field through many different summer conferences. As a result, she has networked with other law students in the labor field and received expertise from leading labor law attorneys. “While my summer clerkship is only half complete, I have already learned so much. I look forward to the rest of the summer and hope to gain even more knowledge and skills going forward,” shared Alexis Boyd. This year, PBF continued to work with our mentor organizations and law school applicants to place 83 students in 10-week summer fellowships, some still working remotely, some in hybrid situations and others working in the office. They have been working on varied assignments for unions, worker centers, union-side law firms and non-profits. The following students agreed to share what their experience has been so far. You can also learn about the background of all of our 2021 Summer Fellows at https:// www.peggybrowningfund.org/news/ fellows-brochure Summer Fellowships Continue to be Strong Pandemic Does Not Deter Mentors or Students Aliah Hasan Women’s Law Project (WLP) Pittsburgh, PA In her third year of law school at West Virginia University, Aliah Hasan reported that her first few weeks at Women’s Law Project (WLP) in Pittsburgh, PA have been exciting! She was able to draft a comment and give testimony at a hearing for paid sick days in Allegheny County, PA. She was even quoted in a local news article on the issue found at the link at the end of this article. Aliah has also been supporting the Worker Organizing Table, a coalition convened by Pittsburgh UNITED, with legal research to identify new campaigns. Currently, Aliah is helping WLP create a new program that will target pregnant and postpartum women to inform them of their rights in the workplace. They have been meeting with local courts and community organizations to find partners for the program. Aliah is also drafting legal memos on several pregnancy discrimination issues and organizing a meeting with staff to further develop a Know-Your-Rights-style curriculum. The hope is that this program and its growing partnerships will help them to identify more individual clients needing representation. Here is the link to Aliah’s article: https://www.wesa.fm/politics-govern- ment/2021-06-24/paid-sick-leave-re- mains-live-issue-at-allegheny-county- board-of-health. Aliah Hasan was quoted in June in an article entitled “Paid Sick Leave Remains Live Issue at County Board of Health” on The Takeaway on the WESA website, the Pittsburgh NPR station, stating, “The health board should add a provision to allow people to sue their employers for violating sick time rules.”