News release
Massachusetts Moms Give Legislators a Summer Reading Assignment - Find Out Why Families Need Paid Sick Days
July 21, 2011
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
Summertime is the perfect opportunity to catch up on reading and today Massachusetts moms encouraged lawmakers to do some reading about the importance of paid sick days to families across the Commonwealth. They delivered books to members of the Massachusetts House and Senate containing stories and messages from Massachusetts families about why they support paid sick days legislation and why lawmakers should pass An Act to Establish Paid Sick Days (HB1398/SB930).
An Act to Establish Paid Sick Days would allow workers to use paid sick days for diagnosis or treatment of their own or a family member’s health condition and for preventive care. Victims of domestic violence would also be able to use paid sick days to address their medical, psychological and legal needs.
Last week the Labor and Workforce Development committee held a hearing on the paid sick days bill and Massachusetts MomsRising members, along with advocates in the Massachusetts Paid Sick Leave Coalition are hoping to capitalize on the momentum to move the legislation along. Currently, nearly one million Massachusetts workers do not have even a single guaranteed paid sick day.
MomsRising is an online and on-the-ground grassroots organization for moms and everyone who has a mom, working to achieve economic security for all families in the United States. The organization collected the messages through email outreaches to its Massachusetts members. Among them were:
During the "swine flu" epidemic my sick co-workers kept coming in because 90% of us are part time. Many Americans now work part time, often holding two or three part time jobs. Thus they work 40 hours or more a week WITH NO BENEFITS. We have no sick days or holiday pay. Life expectancy in the US is dropping. This is shocking and shameful. All workers need paid time off when they or their kids are sick. We also need vacation time to relieve stress. I think ay worker who has accumulated 1000 hours with a company should automatically earn leave in each pay period.
- Ellen, Amherst
As a teacher I have seen many kids come right off the bus in the morning and head straight to the nurse's office. Some parents send their children in regardless of how their child feels because they have to go to work. These children feel miserable all day and end up passing whatever they have along to their classmates and barfing in front of all their peers. Kids get sick everyday but if all parents had paid sick time parents wouldn't feel like they had to tell their kid "you're going to school and if you feel sick later call me". Think about it, as an adult do we like to go to work when we feel bad? Well, going to school is a workday for a child and 6hrs is a long time to sit at a desk and feel sick. Paid sick days would help parents make better decisions when it comes to their sick kids.
- Amy, Bellingham
I'm a single working mother of 5 children. It's hard when they are sick to have people try and care for them because you have to go to work. It's not easy getting a sick child together in the morning especially when they are running fevers and are just down and out so that you can make it to your job because you need to make sure you get a full weeks pay so that you can take care of the bills.
- Marisol, Boston
“Paid sick days are good for working families, good for public health, and good for businesses,” said MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “They help contain health care costs through prevention, early detection, and treatment of illness. When they have paid sick days, parents aren’t forced to send sick children to school where they can infect classmates and teachers. Workers who earn paid sick days can stay home when they’re contagious and not spread illness to their coworkers and customers. And providing paid sick days makes good businesses sense because it increases productivity at work and reduces costly turnover.”