It's time for a celebratory fist bump (more later on why a fist bump, specifically)!
Paid sick days WON BIG at the polls on Election Day — with nearly 1 million more workers gaining access to earned sick days in Massachusetts, Oakland, CA, and Trenton and Montclair, NJ, making it crystal clear that American voters overwhelmingly support paid sick days. In fact, a whopping 81% of voters, across political parties, gender, and race, say it's important for lawmakers to consider paid sick days laws because they help keep working families economically secure. Woot! Time for another fist bump!
Now, it’s time for the next step: Taking paid sick days to Congress. This is a boost for families, our economy, and... our leaders. Why? Let’s be honest, Congress could use some popularity points right now (a poll found that lice are more popular than Congress!!!). Since Election Day told us that paid sick days are VERY popular, and Congress needs a popularity boost, now is the perfect time to tell Congress about these popular paid sick days victories — and also tell them that we expect them to keep up the momentum for earned sick days while they’re back in session.
It’s a win-win! Urge your members of Congress to prioritize paid sick days across the nation:
Why are paid sick days so important? We all get sick, but not everyone has access to the time off they need to recover. When moms and dads are forced to make an impossible choice between going to work sick (and infecting coworkers and customers) or staying home and losing a day's pay, or possibly even their job, we all lose. When employers implement paid sick days, typically at little to no cost, they actually end up saving money because the cost of replacing an employee is around a fifth of their total salary. For example, the paid sick days ballot measure that just passed in Massachusetts, thanks to overwhelming voter support, will save employers $26 million annually.
Paid sick days save hardworking moms and dads their jobs. One in six workers report that they or a family member have been fired, disciplined, written up, or threatened with being fired for taking time off due to illness or to care for a sick family member. That is simply not okay. Every mom is a SuperMoms, but we can't fight off all germs, and we should never have to choose between our families' health and economic security. The good news is that a movement for paid sick days is sweeping the nation and in 2014 alone, two states and ten cities passed paid sick days bills — that's more than 2006 — 2013 COMBINED!
If we all take action together urging Congress to support paid sick days, they won't be able to ignore us, or ignore the headlines across the nation about paid sick days bills and ballot measures passing left and right. Truth be told, leaders can use all the help they can get. In addition to being less popular than lice, Congress is ALSO less popular than root canals! So supporting a popular issue like paid sick days can only help Congress get their job done and most importantly, help working families.
It's time for Congress to take a cue from the incredibly popular recent paid sick days victories in cities and state and expand access to paid sick days nationwide so all families can thrive. Join hundreds of thousands of MomsRising members in taking action:
Together, we're a powerful force for a fairer and healthier nation.
P.S. Why a fist bump and not a high five? Well, according to this recent study, fist bumps spread 50% less germs than high fives.
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