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| 文章出处：学生大考试站 发布时间：2005-10-12 |
Defenders of special protective labor
legislation for women often maintain
that eliminating such laws would
destroy the fruits of a century-long
(5) struggle for the protection of women
workers. Even a brief examination of
the historic practice of courts and
employers would show that the fruit
of such laws has been bitter: they
(10) are , in practice, more of a curse
than a blessing.
Sex-defined protective laws have
often been based on stereotypical
assumptions concerning women's needs
(15) and abilities, and employers have
frequently used them as legal excuses
for discriminating against women.
After the Second World War, for
example, businesses and government
(20) sought to persuade women to vacate
jobs in factories, thus making room
in the labor force for returning
veterans. The revival or passage of
state laws limiting the daily or weekly
(25) work hours of women conveniently
accomplished this. Employers had only
to declare that overtime hours were
a necessary condition of employment
or promotion in their factory, and
(30) women could be quite legally fired,
refused jobs, or kept at low wage
levels, all in the name of "protecting"
their health. By validating such laws
when they are challenged by lawsuits,
(35) the courts have colluded over the years
in establishing different, less advant-
ageous employment terms for women
than for men, thus reducing women's
competitiveness on the job market.
(40) At the same time, even the most well-
intentioned lawmakers, courts, and
employers have often been blind to
the real needs of women. The lawmakers
and the courts continue to permit
(45) employers to offer employee health
insurance plans that cover all known
human medical disabilities except
those relating to pregnancy and
childbirth.
(50) Finally, labor laws protecting only
special groups are often ineffective
at protecting the workers who are
actually in the workplace. Some
chemicals, for example, pose repro-
(55) ductive risks for women of child-
bearing years; manufacturers using
the chemicals comply with laws
protecting women against these
hazards by refusing to hire them.
(60) Thus the sex-defined legislation
protects the
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