Mass. Workers Community Members & Mothers Rally at State House for Paid Sick Days

BOSTON/Beacon Hill - Members of the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition rallied in Nurses Hall at the State House on Thursday in support of An Act Establishing Paid Sick Days (HD 1726 and SD 624). If passed the bill would guarantee workers a minimum of 7 paid sick days annually for their own health needs or those of their family members. This event was LiveTweeted on Twitter. Follow @OpenMediaBoston to get up to the minute news. Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-2nd Middlesex) the bill's lead Senate sponsor started the event by addressing supporters with an update on the bill's status. "We have 93 cosponsors. We have close to a majority in both houses in cosponsors thanks to your work." Jehlen then asked workers and employers to provide stories about their experiences with paid and unpaid sick days. "I want to know. Tell me the stories. Do you get paid sick days? If not what happens when you take a day off? Do you take a day off?" Rep. Kay Khan (D-11th Middlesex) lead House sponsor underscored the social value of providing paid sick days during the recession. "These are tough times so it's not an easy thing for us to do. [...] This is all about investing in people investing in families and that's where it's really at." Rep. Jason Lewis (D-32nd Middlesex) a bill co-sponsor said he had taken his paid sick days for granted while working at a software company and reiterated the precarious position many Massachusetts employees find themselves in. "As I talk to more people [...] I was shocked to learn that 1.5 million workers in Massachusetts almost half of our private sector employees as you well know don't have even one guaranteed paid sick day a year." Phoebe Eng Director of Creative Counsel presented a collection of videos from 1000 Voices National Archive that illustrate the importance and benefit of providing workers paid sick days and the consequences of withholding them. (An example of the of the narratives presented Thursday can be seen on the 1000 Voices National Archive site.) Dr. Kevin Miller a Research Associate for Institute for Women's Policy Research presented findings that indicated the Paid Sick Days Act would directly benefit the 25% of Massachusetts workers who currently have no paid leave at all. IWPR's research demonstrated financial benefits for employers who would pay $218 million annually for sick leave benefits but earn $348 million mostly from reduced costs of turnover for a total savings of $130 million annually. Their research further demonstrated that by reducing "presenteeism " employees coming to work with communicable diseases providing paid sick days would reduce state health care expenditures hospitalizations and the spread of diseases like flu and norovirus. Labor leaders and union members repeatedly stressed how essential paid sick leave is. Mike Fadel Executive Vice President 1199 SEIU retold a story from a member of his union who said "I can barely afford to be well. I certainly can't afford to be sick." Bob Haynes President of Massachusetts AFL-CIO said it was up to Massachusetts citizens and lawmakers to lay the foundation of paid sick leave for employees. "We are earning these sick days as working people. We're not giving anything away to anybody. We've earned them by going to work." As the event drew to a close MomsRising organized supporters to deliver colorful Valentine cookies to legislators with messages from constituents underscoring the importance of paid sick days. Photos by Jason Pramas. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati