Unions call on Portland
to require paid sick leave
A proposed ordinance
could make the City a
pioneer on human rights
and public health
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
A union-backed coalition is gearing
up to ask City Council to make Port-
land a leader on human rights. Workers
have a guaranteed right to paid sick
leave in 163 other countries, but not in
the United States. But in the last five
years, San Francisco, Washington,
D.C., Seattle, and the state of Con-
necticut have passed laws requiring
employers to provide paid sick days. If
Portland passes such an ordinance and
the trend continues to take off, it would
be an unmistakeable improvement in
the lives of some of the nation’s low-
est-paid workers.
Right now, about four in 10 private
sector workers in the United States have
no paid sick time. When they get sick,
they must either stay home and lose in-
come (or even be disciplined, in some
workplaces) … or go to work sick, and
in some cases expose co-workers and
the public to contagious illness.
Making matters worse, the workers
who don’t have paid sick leave are also
usually the poorest workers — who can
least afford to lose wages. According to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 23
percent of the lowest paid workers —
those in the bottom 10 percent — have
paid sick leave.
“What that means in real terms,”
says Portland campaign coordinator
Andrea Paluso, “is people go to work
sick and/or they send their kids to
school or childcare sick because they
can’t take the time off. And that has real
public health consequences.”
Paluso is director of the group Fam-
ily Forward Oregon, and a member of
the state committee of the Oregon
Working Families Party, a union-spon-
sored political party. She says paid sick
leave is an emerging national move-
ment.
San Francisco was the trailblazer:
Since 2007, it has required every em-
ployer to provide paid sick leave, which
workers can use when they or a family
member are sick. Workers there accrue
one hour of sick leave for every 30
hours they work, and can accumulate
up to 72 hours of sick leave (40 hours at
workplaces with fewer than 10 employ-
ees.)
In Portland, the campaign, known as
“Everybody Benefits,” has been work-
ing on proposed language for an ordi-
nance, and has been seeking support
Portland area janitors avert
strike with new agreement
Portland area janitors, members of
Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) Local 49, ratified a new con-
tract with seven janitorial firms that
employ some 1,700 workers. The rati-
fication vote was held June 30 — the
day the previous contract was set to ex-
pire and workers prepared to strike.
The four-year agreement includes a
wage increase each year of the con-
tract, which will bring most janitors up
to around $30,000 per year by the end
of the term, SEIU said. The new con-
tract also calls for employer contribu-
tions for health insurance, one sick day,
plus the ability to use vacation for paid
sick time. It allows for workers to take
extended vacation, giving immigrant
workers the time to travel to their home
countries.
“We worked hard to get this agree-
ment,” said Brian Leeder, ABM janitor
and SEIU executive board member. “It
gives us at least one sick day, allows for
many of our members to see their fam-
ilies, and gives us some guarantee
about wage increases, it will have a big
impact on 1,700 families.”
In mid-June, the two sides were not
close to an agreement and workers
were preparing for a strike. On June 15,
PAGE 4
from members of City Council. The
coalition includes Working America;
the Oregon Working Families Party;
Oregon AFSCME Council 75; United
Food and Commercial Workers Local
555; Service Employees International
Union Local 503; and Oregon Nurses
Association; as well as Urban League
and several small business groups.
Many union members have paid sick
days already, but plenty more would di-
rectly benefit from an ordinance. Gro-
cery workers represented by Local 555,
for example, have paid sick leave — but
can’t use it until the third day they’re
sick.
The Portland ordinance would likely
have an exception for union workplaces
like longshore and building trades, be-
cause those workers have other options
under their collective bargaining agree-
ments. They typically are dispatched by
hiring halls and work short stints for
multiple employers. They can choose
not to work when they’re sick for short
periods; and for more serious illnesses,
they have short-term disability cover-
age.
Working America, the AFL-CIO’s
community organization, has begun
talking about paid sick days in its Port-
land door-to-door canvass operation.
Kyle Allen, a Working America can-
vasser, says 95 percent of Portland res-
idents he’s spoken to think paid sick
time is something workers should al-
ready have. The canvass is gathering let-
Working America organizers Kyle Allen and Tara Murphy (in T-shirts)
demonstrate door-talk with fellow canvasser Rob Taylor. Working America,
which is the AFL-CIO’s community outreach organization, has been going
door-to-door gathering support from Portlanders for a paid sick leave
ordinance. (Photo courtesy of Working America.)
ters of support for an ordinance. The
campaign is also circulating a petition,
and gathering people’s personal stories
about sick leave at everybodybenefit-
soregon.org.
On some doorsteps, Working Amer-
ica’s sick leave discussion really hits
home. One single mom, who for fear of
employer retaliation asked that her
name and workplace not be identified,
told the Labor Press that as a $10-an-
hour full-time worker in a child care
center, she can’t afford to take the day
off when she or her young son get sick.
And she gets sick as often as once a
month — because many parents don’t
have paid sick time either, and send
their sick kids to daycare.
Low-wage service-sector work-
places like restaurants, nursing homes,
and daycare centers are among the least
likely to have paid sick days. So backers
say an “earned sick days” law would be
a victory for public health as well as hu-
man rights.
“Our pitch to commissioners is,
‘You’re part of a national movement,’ ”
Paluso said. “This is like child labor or
the minimum wage. We want a federal
labor standard that applies to everyone
in this country.”
“Nobody should have to go to work
sick,” Paluso said, “and nobody should
lose income because they’re sick.”
some 200 union janitors and support-
ers rallied and marched in downtown
Portland demanding raises — and paid
sick days. Under their previous con-
tract, janitors made $9.20 to $12.45 an
hour and had no paid sick days.
Local 49 bargaining team member
Angel Moo, who cleans Intel for
SBM, said the rally was a show of
force, demonstrating that janitors
were united in their fight.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams and
Commissioner Amanda Fritz were
there in support, and so were Mult-
nomah County Chair Jeff Cogen and
Commissioner Deb Kafoury. Also
there were both candidates for Port-
land mayor — Jefferson Smith and
Charlie Hales — plus Mary Nolan,
candidate for city commissioner.
Adams, Kafoury, Smith and Hales
even donned the union’s purple and
white T-shirt. Both the City and the
County employ union-signatory jan-
itorial contractors.
Two weeks later, a deal was done.
“This contract raises standards for
janitors while maintaining the viabil-
ity of the industry,” said Maggie
Long, Property Services Director at
SEIU 49 and chief negotiator.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JULY 6, 2012