Ballot Hopes for Earned Sick Days

Earned Sick Days is a movement spreading the country with localized campaigns aiming to shift policies and help protect workers and families. I was able to attend a conference on Paid Sick Days last year in Washington DC sponsored by the National Partnership for Women and Families and learned a lot about the communities and families that benefit from these policies. Over the next few weeks, I will try to follow the progress of the Earned Sick Days campaign by Citizens for a Greater Orange County as they aim to make the November ballot and give Orange County voters the final say. I will start the series off with a quick piece from a story I wrote that was published in the West Orlando News Online to get some thoughts going:

The need for sick days is clear for supporters. Imagine a scenario where restaurant workers go to work sick to avoid being fired and then prepare your lunch. Or a mother who can’t leave work to pick up her sick child from school who then spreads those germs to your child, nurses and school staff. There is already push back from the business lobby and the fight will only just begin if the initiative qualifies for the ballot. However, local Orlando polls show 88% of respondents supporting paid sick time recently.

Check out the whole story here and check out the Earned Sick Days campaign locally.  As the campaign goes on I will highlight benefits to the community as well as any relevant news as the deadline to submit petitions approaches.