By Steve Smith



As we get closer to the end of the California legislative session, you see a lot more corporate types in fancy suits roaming in and around the Capitol. The goal? Stamp out worker-friendly bills. Near the top of their hit list this year is AB 1522, an effort authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to allow all California workers to earn a few desperately needed paid sick days on the job.

In most other countries, this isn’t a controversial notion. 136 countries around the world have national laws that all workers to earn paid sick days. Most modern economies have made paid sick leave a basic workplace right because when workers are forced to go to a workplace when they’re sick, everyone from consumers to workers to businesses is put at risk.  

Here in the United States, polling shows 86 percent of Americans favor paid sick leave policy. Yet, only one state (Connecticut) has a paid sick leave law. Why so much resistance to something that seems common-sense and fundamental? Let’s go back to those business lobbyists roaming the Capitol. The Chamber of Commerce has labeled paid sick days a so-called “job killer.” Not because it actually kills jobs (research shows the laws in Connecticut and San Francisco didn’t have negative impact on jobs). No, for business lobbyists, “job killer” is merely code for any law that supports working people.  

Lobbyists like John Kabatek of the National Federation of Independent Business use arguments like the law “will create uncertainty.” Uncertainty? When I think of uncertainty, I think about the single mom who has to choose between going to work sick and possibly infecting her co-workers and customers OR staying home with a sick child and missing the rent payment. In today’s economy, that’s the uncertainty that 5.5 million workers face, many of whom are in low-wage jobs at multi-billion dollar corporations like Walmart and McDonald’s.

The Senate Appropriations committee, led by Senate President Pro tem-elect Kevin de Leon, has an opportunity to do the right thing this week and send the bill to the Senate floor for an up-or-down vote. It’s time to stand up to the corporate lobbyists swarming the Capitol. Millions of Californians who are without even a single paid sick day on the job are depending on it.  If you haven’t already, please sign the petition in support of AB 1522.

By Krista Collard

Having to choose between going to work to keep food on the table for your family and neglecting your health or the needs of sick child is not a choice people should have to make. But every day, over 5 million working Californians who lack access to paid sick days, have this unfair choice hanging over their heads.

Like most people, we believe that anyone who is willing to work full-time should not be forced to live in poverty. We also agree with most people that if a worker or their child gets sick, it’s better for everyone if that worker is able to take some earned leave to get well without losing critical pay or worse, their job. That’s why we’ve launched our petition” in support of AB 1522, a bill that would guaranteed three paid sick days a year for every California worker after 90 days of employment.

Working mothers are among the most likely to need paid sick days-women remain the primary caregivers for children, the elderly, and the disabled, and are more likely than fathers to need to stay home with a sick family member. Yet many working moms are employed in the retail and restaurant industries, and aren’t offered any paid time off when illness strikes. This creates a serious problem not only for workers, but for consumers as well when those workers are offered no choice but to serve food or stock shelves while ill.

Having to choose between going to work to keep food on the table for your family and neglecting your health or the needs of sick child is not a choice people should have to make. But every day, over 5 million working Californians who lack access to paid sick days, have this unfair choice hanging over their heads.

Like most people, we believe that anyone who is willing to work full-time should not be forced to live in poverty. We also agree with most people that if a worker or their child gets sick, it’s better for everyone if that worker is able to take some earned leave to get well without losing critical pay or worse, their job. That’s why we’ve launched our petition in support of AB 1522, a bill that would guaranteed three paid sick days a year for every California worker after 90 days of employment.

Working mothers are among the most likely to need paid sick days-women remain the primary caregivers for children, the elderly, and the disabled, and are more likely than fathers to need to stay home with a sick family member. Yet many working moms are employed in the retail and restaurant industries, and aren’t offered any paid time off when illness strikes. This creates a serious problem not only for workers, but for consumers as well when those workers are offered no choice but to serve food or stock shelves while ill.

Andrina Garcia is a good example of this pervasive problem.  A single mother of two small children and worker in the fast-food industry, she doesn’t have access to a single sick day. So if she, her children or anyone else she helps to take care of becomes ill, she still has to make tacos or face losing wages.

Garcia said:

“As a single mother working for a large fast-food company making only $8.05 an hour, it is really challenging to provide for my children, but I do the best I can.

“Recently my mother got sick and I had to rush her to the hospital. Fortunately, it happened after my shift was over because otherwise I don’t know what I would done. Having a few sick days as a safety net –days that I’ve worked hard to earn– could make a huge difference to me and my family.”

A research brief prepared by Next Generation shows that only 61 percent of Americans working in the private sector receive paid sick leave. Those with greater access to paid sick leave tend to be full-time and high-wage workers; White, black, and Asian non-Hispanic workers are also more likely than Hispanic workers to have access.

According to polls, 85 percent of Californians support paid sick days legislation. In San Francisco, city-wide Paid Sick Days legislation enacted in 2007 has shown continued support, including from business owners. If AB 1522 passes, California would be the second state to pass such a law.

So please sign join us in supporting AB 1522, a landmark California bill to provide EVERY worker with paid sick days. It will provide critical support to millions of working Californians who have worked hard to earn the sick time they deserve. Sign the petition today!

By Mariana Huerta & Cathy Dang

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Los Angeles

What did you do for Valentine’s Day?  On the most romantic day of the year and the highest grossing day for restaurants, chances are that you dined at a new or favorite restaurant. Chances are also high that the people who prepared, cooked, and served your food lack a basic workplace protection that makes restaurants healthy for workers and diners: Paid Sick Days.

Depending on what your job is, you might take for granted the fact that you can take off from work and still get paid if you are sick. But a report just released by Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) in Los Angeles shows that 89.4% of restaurant workers in the city do not have paid sick days and 58.3% have gone to work while sick. Workers reported they could not take time off when sick, either because they would be penalized or because they couldn’t afford to lose pay. One worker reported having to work cooking food while sick with the H1N1 virus, because he could not afford to take a day off.

We are pretty sure the flu isn’t something you want coming out of the kitchen when you go to a restaurant.

It’s just common sense that sick workers should stay home. Both workers and customers benefit.  Yet some businesses and their lobbyists claim that basic workplace policies like paid sick days would be “job killers.”  Last week a study released by the independent, nonpartisan Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) provided clear evidence those claims are false.  San Francisco has had a citywide paid sick days policy since 2007. IWPR’s report showed that two-thirds of employers are supportive of the policy and six out of seven reported the law had no negative effect on profitability.

Diners across the country have shown an increasing interest in sustainable food, including locally grown, organic and healthy cuisine.  But food will never be truly sustainable as long as it is prepared, cooked and served by workers who feel forced to work while sick because they fear losing their job or missing a paycheck.  This Valentine’s Day, Assembly member Fiona Ma introduced AB400 to guarantee all California workers the right to paid sick days – a long overdue policy that benefits both workers and businesses.

Read ROC’s Los Angeles report, Behind the Kitchen Door: Inequality and

Opportunity in Los Angeles, the Nation’s Largest Restaurant Industry:

http://www.rocunited.org/files…

To learn more about IWPR’s study, San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance:

Outcomes for Employers and Employees, visit http://www.iwpr.org/publicatio…