We’re making headway in our fight for paid sick days for all!  In response to the swine flu outbreak, MomsRising members (you!) sent in nearly 50,000 letters to Congress asking them act now to address the fact that over 40% of private sector workers have no paid sick days.  In today’s economy, folks without paid sick days can’t afford to follow the CDC’s advice to stay home when they, or their children, are sick–and that puts everyone at risk of exposure to illness, whether it’s swine flu or any other communicable disease.

Well guess what?  Some of our Congressional Representatives listened!  Just last week, they introduced the Healthy Families Act, which would allow people to earn paid sick days.  It has its first big hearing this very week, one of the key hurdles the bill has to jump before it can become a law.

Now’s the time to move this Act forward. Tell your Congressperson to support the Healthy Families Act today.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27274

Paid sick days:  Just common sense. Right now there is no law that guarantees people the right to earn paid sick days to take care of themselves or their children.  In fact, the very industries where you would expect paid sick days to be required (to protect public health), like home health care providers, child care workers, and folks who work in restaurants and hotels, are the LEAST likely to have them. ¹

But having the support of the Congresspeople who introduced the Healthy Families Act isn’t enough to win this essential protection for working families. We need more Congresspeople on board with us.  On Thursday, the Congressional Education and Labor Committee’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee will be hosting a hearing on The Healthy Families Act. This bill would guarantee seven paid sick days per year for workers at businesses with 15 or more employees, to be used to recover from routine illness, care for a sick family member, or seek services to recover from domestic violence.

Tell your Congressperson to support the Healthy Families Act today.