Yesterday, on the steps of the City County building, the Healthy Families, Healthy City coalition announced an initiative to provide paid sick leave to all employees working in the City of Madison.

Russ McDaniel, a Madison janitor with no sick leave benefits, has had to make the choice between going to work sick or losing a few days of pay.


If the Healthy Families, Healthy City coalition is successful, no employee will have to make this decision in the future.

The coalition's members currently include South Central Federation of Labor, Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, UW Law School's Neighborhood Law Project, Wisconsin Citizen Action, Benefits Advocacy Team of Dane County, SEIU District 1199, ASM Workers' Rights Campaign, Affordable Housing Action Alliance, Tenants Advocacy Group, Madison-Area Urban Ministry and numerous other health care professionals, workers, service providers, union members, and Madison residents.

As the group announced its intent to open the dialogue on paid sick leave for all Madison workers,State Representative Spencer Black announced his intent to introduce state legislation to the same effect. Other speakers included a public health nurse, advocates for low-income working families, and child care advocates. Peggy Haack, an area child care provider said that many child care providers do not have sick leave, putting the health of our children at risk. Daniel Stattelman-Scanlan, a Madison public health nurse, said it's important for workers and children to stay home when ill to prevent the spread of illness. "We should not punish employees who need to stay home with a sick child," he said. "These working parents are helping prevent the spread of disease and promoting healthy school environments and healthy work environments."




Alder Austin King wrapped up the press conference with an announcement of an upcoming Town Hall meeting. Coalition members wish to hear from the public before forming a concrete proposal. The meeting will be held on August 22nd at 6:00pm at 2234 South Park Street in the Villager Mall. The coalition invites Madison residents, employees, and employers to attend the meeting to share their thoughts and ideas. When asked for specifics of the proposal, Alder King responded to the Capital Times, "There's no way we'll put out a draft until after we hear from the public."

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's office issued a press release reacting to the group's proposal. The mayor states, "As a strong supporter of family and medical leave, I appreciate the efforts of the coalition to raise the profile of this important issue," and continued with, "The extensive public process that the coalition has proposed for community discussion of this issue is a good one, and I look forward to hearing from employees and employers alike in the weeks to come."

Meanwhile, others such as Jim Pugh of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Jennifer Alexander of the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce, and Alder Zach Brandon have already come out against any proposal requiring paid sick leave telling the Wisconsin State Journal "If I had a single mother who worked for me, and she said she needs to miss work because of a problem, that'd be a discussion between me and my employee. I don't want her to lose hours if she's a good employee." He continued, "What we're talking about is some of the marginal employees when they have the beer flu and then they get fired for it. They said they got fired because they had to take some time off. I think there's more to it than just taking time off."

The Healthy Families, Healthy City Coalition points out that nearly half of America's workers do not have sick leave. For low-wage workers, the numbers are even more staggering: 50-75% of those earning below $20,000 annually can not take a paid day off work when ill. They estimate that more than 25,000 Madison workers in the service and manufacturing industries would benefit from a paid sick leave ordinance.

Nationally, Senators Ted Kennedy has introduced the Healthy Family Act which would mandate 7 paid days of sick leave. Locally, a specific number of days to propose will not be determined until after the Town Hall meeting on August 22. Currently, no city or state in the United States guarantees workers any paid sick leave. Our country lags behind on workers' rights according to a Harvard Study which found that 139 countries guarantee at least some paid sick leave for workers and even more guarantee extensive paid family leave.

Note: The author of this article is involved with the Healthy Families, Healthy City Coalition.