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Statement

MomsRising Statement On the Seattle City Council Committee’s Passage Of the Paid Sick Days Ordinance

August 11, 2011
Paid Sick Days

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Yesterday’s City Council committee vote is a hopeful sign for the nearly 200,000 Seattle workers who currently can’t take even a single paid sick day.  MomsRising is proud to be an integral part of the effort to pass the paid sick days ordinance and we will continue to galvanize our members and their families and friends until the ordinance is signed by Mayor McGinn.
 
MomsRising and our Seattle members worked diligently to garner support for the paid sick days ordinance – sending in nearly 4,500 letters to City Councilmembers, testifying at hearings, speaking at Council and community events, and delivering to Councilmembers a book of stories about the importance of paid sick days to Seattle families.
 
Those stories, many of them frustrating and heartbreaking, highlight the reasons that every worker should have paid sick days. 
 
We know there’s overwhelming public support for paid sick days.  In fact, the majority of Democrats and Republicans support paid sick days, as do many savvy business owners.  They know that not only do paid sick days policies keep their workers healthier and improve public health, they also increase worker loyalty and decrease the cost of having to hire and train new workers, as well as the costs associated with people spreading illnesses.
 
When people have paid sick leave, they can stay home if they’re ill and avoid spreading illness to their co-workers, and in some cases, to clients, customers and other members of the public.  When parents have paid sick leave, they don’t have to send their children to school sick where they can infect other kids and teachers, or leave them at home where they’re unsupervised. 
 
We all get sick.  And when we’re worried about our kids’ health or our own health, we shouldn’t also have to worry about whether we can pay the rent or utility bills or if we’ll still have a job when we get better. 
 
We will keep working with our partners in this effort, including: many Seattle businesses like Plum Bistro, Cupcake Royale, Tutta Bello, 5 Point Cafe, and more; and the more than 75 organizations that are part of the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce whose leadership includes Economic Opportunity Institute Puget Sound Sage, UFCW 21, Legal Voice, Washington CAN, Puget Sound Association for Retired Americans, MLK Labor Council, and the Washington State Labor Council.  And we will not stop until Seattle has a paid sick days ordinance.
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.