Good news on statewide Paid Sick Days from the Washington Work and Family Coalition:

YOU DID IT!!

You helped pack the room on Monday for the Paid Sick Days (HB 1356) bill hearing. Legislators heard passionate testimony from a school nurse, a grocery worker, a small business owner, a domestic violence advocate and a senior -- all speaking to to the importance of every worker having paid sick days.

THERE'S THE NEXT CRUCIAL STEP:  The House Appropriations Committee will consider whether to send the bill to the full House for a vote. Please click here to send an email urging committee members to support Washington workers by moving paid sick days to the full House for a vote!

Your action today will help ensure over 1 million workers in Washington state can earn paid leave to care for themselves or a loved one - including 170,000 people working in accommodation and food service, 167,000 in retail and 93,000 in health care and social assistance.

Thank you!

The Tacoma City Council passed a Paid Sick and Safe Leave ordinance on a vote of 8-1 last night.  The council approved 3 days of paid sick leave for workers annually.  Workers will be able to begin accruing leave effective February 1, 2016.  

The final ordinance fell short of the seven to nine days that community members have called for over the past two years.  Teamsters and other Union members packed the council chambers and testified en masse with a unified message - 3 days is not enough.

Randy Marquis, a Local 117 Shop Steward at the City of Tacoma, addressed the councilmembers directly:

“When was the last time you were sick? Was three days enough to get well? When was the last time you had a child who was sick? Was three days a year enough to care for that child? This ordinance must be good for at least 7 days a year. Union workers must also be covered in this ordinance. Anything else is lip service, nothing more.”

You can link to the complete hearing, including all public comment here.

On Tuesday, December 16, the Tacoma City Council will be taking action on the Mayor’s Paid Sick and Safe leave proposal.

This is good news for Tacoma workers - the problem is that the Mayor is proposing just 24 hours of paid sick leave per year and it excludes Union workers from the right to earn paid sick days. 

If you live in the City of Tacoma, we have good news! Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland has announced she will introduce a paid sick leave bill this Tuesday. 

What’s not good is that she negotiated provisions with corporate interests rather than focusing on protecting family and public health. The people of Tacoma need our help now to win a strong paid sick and safe leave law. 

Local 117 members spoke out last night at a public hearing at Tacoma City Hall in support of a fair paid sick day’s measure for workers in Tacoma.  Teamsters in the steel and grocery industries testified as well as members in the public sector and at the Washington State Nurses Association.

Alfredo Espino, a twenty-year Teamster and Trustee on the Local 117 Executive Board, addressed the City Council backed by a group of his co-workers holding signs that read: “Tacoma needs paid sick days!”

The City of Tacoma is on the verge of passing a Paid Sick Days ordinance that could provide relief for workers who are currently having to choose between going to work sick or staying home to care for themselves or a sick family member.

But there's a hitch.  The proposal attributed to Mayor Strickland is heavily influenced by big business without input from the very workers the law should be designed to protect. The Mayor's plan calls for a measly three days of sick leave for workers annually and it exempts unions.

You shouldn't have to choose between your health and your job. That's why Teamsters Local 117 is committed to passing Paid Sick Days for workers in the City of Tacoma.

Will you join us on Thursday, May 30th at 6:30 p.m. at the Pierce County Central Labor Council to help kick off the Tacoma Paid Sick Days campaign?

PAID SICK DAYS KICKOFF
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
Pierce County Labor Council
3049 S. 36th St. Tacoma, WA 98404

You can’t sleep. It hurts to swallow, your bones ache, and you’re alternating between night sweats and chills. In the morning, you’ve got a decision to make: Either you call in sick, or you suck it up, stumble off to work, and risk getting worse.

Whatever you decide will have consequences, on your own health, the health of those around you, and perhaps on your ability to hold your job. If it’s a sick child you're faced with, the decision can be agonizing, especially if your employer is not the sympathetic sort.