We stay till the job is done! Paid Sick Days Ordinance in Supreme Court 10.1.10

Greetings from 9to5, NAWW Milwaukee!

On behalf of the staff, interns and board of 9to5 Milwaukee we would like to extend a warm THANK YOU to everyone that showed up for our Women’s Equality Day Speak Out Rally at City Hall on August 26, 2010! Our turn out was astounding, over 100 people present in support of the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460, S 1152) and to rally around our 2008 victory at the polls for Paid Sick Days Coalition. We the people showed up and sent a clear message: that we are going to stay in the struggle until the voice of the people is recognized, and respected. Nearly 70% of the Milwaukee voters can’t be ignored! Thank you Milwaukee for always being at the forefront of change! Si Se Puede!

Our work is not over. We have been notified that the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments for the Paid Sick Days Ordinance law suit on:

October 1, 2010
2 PM
Washington County Justice Center
432 East Washington StreetWest Bend, WI 53095

We will need YOU to attend this important date. Our strongest tool is showing up in numbers in support of what we voted for! We are most interested in having the people affected by the lack of Paid Sick Days present. Lack of Paid Sick Days affects all of us, but it has most directly affected hospitality workers, food service professionals, CNA’s Medical assistants, parents and those working temporary positions. If this is your position we want to hear from you! We would like to organize as many community members as possible to show up at the court date and be counted as voters that represent the need for Paid Sick Days implementation!

Please contact LaShawndra @ 414.274.0920 or milwaukee@9to5.0rg if you need assistance with transportation, or would like to organize a carpool.

Election Connection 2010

By Amy Stear

9to5 members are preparing to elevate, educate and agitate around our issues in this year's elections. We do this by sharing our vision of a fair and equitable workplace that supports our ability to care for our families. Paid sick days, expanded family medical leave rights to attend our children's school conferences and job-protected leaves are all very important issues to us.

We talk with people in our community about the importance of ending discrimination in the workplace and ensuring all workers are treated equally and receive equal protection under the law. We share our commitment to achieve pay equity since currently women earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.

We publicize the stories of the most vulnerable families struggling to move out of poverty as we call for access to family-supporting jobs, expanded work supports including affordable health care, child care and the maintenance of safety net programs like food share and unemployment insurance.


This is what we value at 9to5 and we vote our values. We know one of the best ways to make meaningful change is to make our voices heard with decision-makers, policy-makers and candidates of all types over the next several months. In the next few months we will be participating in candidate forums around the city. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, share our position on our important issues and find out who supports what we value.

The first Candidate Forum will take place Thursday, August 10th at Centennial Hall (733 North 8th Street, Milwaukee).

For more information visit http://9to5.org/local/milwaukee/ourwork/events/candidate-forum.

Reactions to the Arizona Immigration Law

By Teresa Mambu-Rasch

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a disturbing and potentially unconstitutional bill into law. In sum, the new law legalizes racial profiling and discrimination within the State of Arizona. It requires police officers to stop anyone whom the officer reasonably suspects may be undocumented. If the person does not have immediate proof that they are a legal citizen or resident, the officer can arrest and detain the person until s/he can offer proof of their “legal” status.

There are four major problems with the law:

1) It codifies racial profiling of Latino and people of color

2) It moves immigration enforcement from the federal level to the local level

3) It requires everyone in Arizona to carry an identification card with them at all times, which conjures up memories of Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa

4) It criminalizes being undocumented within the state of Arizona

In response to this law, many cities and organizations have called for a boycott of the state of Arizona in the form of an ordinance that would ban public employees from traveling to Arizona on official business until the law is repealed.

Amy Stear, 9to5 Wisconsin Director, wrote to each Milwaukee alderman and alderwoman voicing 9to5's support for a similar boycott in Milwaukee. She wrote, "9to5 has a long history of challenging discrimination in the workplace and we find SB 1070 particularly reprehensible as it harms the entire state of Arizona by purposefully undermining the rights of people of color living or traveling through the state."

Learn more at http://www.9to5.org/

2010 Membership Drive

By Sangita Nayak

During this 2010 membership drive, I have been reminded about how there are so many moments to join 9to5. Here are three different ways women have become members so far this drive.

1) While volunteering with 9to5, women joined as a 9to5 member in order to keep our work going. One woman, who volunteered for the first time, filled out the form and paid her membership immediately, so she could help 9to5 financially and demonstrate her investment in our work.

2) One member asked if she could renew online and asked for our website address. In no time flat she had entered the website and paid her membership. Online memberships take little time to complete and few 9to5 resources to process. Join online today at www.9to5.org/membership.

3) Many members have been successful in recruiting new members, this reminds us that members like giving to members. If you are a member why not ask friends and family if they would like to join your local 9to5 chapter. Every year this is a major way 9to5 Milwaukee grows its membership.

Celebrate 36 years of 9to5 - join today for only $15! As a member of 9to5, you will receive:

- Our quarterly Newsline magazine
- An invitation to 9to5's Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.
- Action alerts on legislation to expand workplace rights and family friendly policies
- Connections to other women activists in Milwaukee and across the country

...not to mention your contribution will help move 9to5 and its issues forward. Join TODAY!

Honoring Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton

By Laura Kendellen

On the first day of the first woman elected to lead from the office of Lieutenant Governor in Wisconsin, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton received the Status of Women in Wisconsin report that gave us a low C-grade. That became the impetus for her groundbreaking economic development initiative, Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, that put our state to work to raise the grade for Wisconsin women. Her design for that work, addressing the inextricable nature of the building blocks for prosperity, became a national and international model. Since then, Lt. Governor Lawton has never backed away from the sometimes thorny issues that define smart, family-supporting public policies for working women in Wisconsin.

9to5 Milwaukee, Paid Sick Days Wisconsin and the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee invite you to a FREE event on April 8th at 5:00 p.m. honoring Lt. Gov. Lawton for her continued commitment to Wisconsin working women and their families.

Join us to learn how positive work and family practices strengthen job preservation for workers and employers, and help low-income workers move out of poverty.

• Keynote by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton
• Comments by Congresswoman Gwen Moore
• Legacy Bank's Margaret Henningsen

Refreshments will be provided.

RSVP Amy Stear, Wisconsin Director, 9to5 Milwaukee
9to5milwaukee@9to5.org or 414-274-0923

Visit the 9to5 website for more details.

Milwaukee’s Fair Share

By Laura Kendellen

Help make sure Milwaukee gets its fair share by pledging to participate in the 2010 census.

At the March member meeting, learn why the 2010 census is an important tool for Milwaukeeans to receive the resources they need like health care, job training, child care and schools.

Saturday, March 20th at 11 a.m. Nonprofit Center (2819 W Highland Blvd.)

After the meeting, join 9to5 staff in community outreach, collecting signatures from Milwaukeeans who pledge to participate in the 2010 census.

In 2000, 1/3 of Milwaukeeans went uncounted which means families did not get their fair share. By reaching out to 2,010 Milwaukeeans, 9to5 can help ensure an accurate 2010 census, which means funds for critical programs like job support and BadgerCare.

For more information about the 2010 census and to pledge online visit www.9to5.org/census.

Pledge cards are also available at the 9to5 office (207 E Buffalo Street, Suite 211). Sign one for yourself and take a few to have your friends and family sign.

To get involved, contact angie@9to5.org.

Road Trip to Paid Sick Days Justice

By Christopher Flowers
Edited by Laura Kendellen

On January 20th, 9to5 organized a group of Paid Sick Days supporters to hop on a bus at 7:30 a.m. and take a short but exciting ride to Madison. About 25 more supporters from across Wisconsin met us there.

At the Capitol, we attended the Paid Sick Days ordinance court hearing where 9to5’s attorney, Barbara Quindel, described the need for Paid Sick Days in Milwaukee. The courtroom was packed with close to 50 Paid Sick Days supporters and only a handful of seats were taken by our opponents with the MMAC.

“I was excited to attend the appeal and witness history in the making for both employers and employees,” says Angie Grice, a 9to5 intern. “I am a student pursuing business management and accounting with hopes of running my own business. I know that some employers’ associations are against Paid Sick Days, but as a future entrepreneur, I would give my employees paid sick days.”

The overall experience was very enlightening and empowering. We are people making history and it gives employees hope for a better future.

9to5 thanks attending Paid Sick Days allies:

• Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
• Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project
• Sojourner Family Peace Center
• Voces de la Frontera
• Freedom Inc.
• Madison Worker Rights Coalition

…and the many Milwaukeeans who made the day-long trip!

Making Change in TANF

By Lila Saavedra
Edited by Laura Kendellen

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (W-2 in Wisconsin) is scheduled for reauthorization in 2010. TANF states that it gives low income families self-sufficiency, yet many women who have received W-2 still struggle to move their families from poverty.

On February 24th and 25th, 9to5 Milwaukee Intern Angie Grice and I attended a conference in Washington D.C. with the Welfare Economic Justice Coalition. During the conference, we discussed and lobbied to make education a priority, change how TANF funds are used in our state, and end time limits which are harsh in today’s recession.

In Milwaukee, 9to5 members and staff have held a number of meetings with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in an effort to ensure a more stable outcome for all recipients of Wisconsin TANF services like W-2 emergency assistance and child care funds. The next meeting with DCF representatives is Friday, March 12th at 1 p.m. A preparatory meeting is being held tonight at 4 p.m. All are encouraged to attend.

Both meetings are held at the Nonprofit Center (2819 W Highland Blvd.).

We are collecting testimonies from women with W-2 benefits and encourage them to join us at our March meetings. Please contact lila@9to5.org with questions, testimony or to RSVP.

Check out video from the WEJC conference! Intern Angie Grice begins her speech at 6:38 on clip 1 and continues into clip 2.

Senator Coggs: Ready and Willing

Although 70% of Milwaukee citizens agree that paid sick days are a necessity for all workers, paid sick days are still not a reality for many of Milwaukee’s workers. Passing such legislation at the state level is the clear next step in providing all workers federally with paid sick days. Guaranteed paid sick days for Wisconsin, along with 12 other states, is in the works. Representative Tamara Grigsby is drafting legislation and will be the Assembly champion.

As a new intern at 9to5, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a member meeting where two Milwaukee State Senators met with 9to5ers. The meeting was held in the end of September at the 9to5 community space. Senator Coggs and Senator Taylor spoke of their latest accomplishments and what they hoped to make progress on. Senator Taylor contributed valuable statewide input. When asked about paid sick days at the state level, Senator Coggs had a particularly inspiring response to the amount of work we at 9to5 and other allies in the fight for paid sick days have. He simply said that passing paid sick days statewide would be difficult, but it’s something that definitely can be done.

This is exactly the attitude we need to adopt in order to succeed. If this movement gained enough support, we would all be one step closer to not having to make decisions that we shouldn’t have to between our health or the health of our loved ones and work.

I would hope that everyone would agree with the underlying values of paid time off for the health of their families. Hearing that it’s a definite possibility from one person can set an example for everyone, whatever power they have.

At the end of the member meeting, Senator Coggs agreed to cosponsor statewide paid sick days. With uniting efforts such as this, all is possible. Lets take this opportunity to lead the nation in truly valuing working families with good policy.

Does Your Child Care Center Provide Paid Sick Days?

By Karen Pesapane, National Partnership

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps updating its guidelines to help child care and early childhood programs - - and all of us - - respond to influenza during the 2009-2010 flu season.

Guidelines for providers include separating children with signs of illness from healthy children until the ill child can be picked-up, and not allowing children back to school until 24 hours after their fever naturally subsides.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius unveiled a new PSA featuring Elmo practicing sneezing into his arm and went on record saying “If your child comes down with the flu, we hope you plan to keep them home and not share this with their playmates.”

It’s been said enough over the past few weeks that I think we all get it. Staying home when feeling sick is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of illness.

But for all the recent emphasis on keeping sick kids home, I wondered if my 2 year-old son’s child care teachers were sick, would they stay home? Could they stay home?

So I did the unthinkable and I asked the director of my son’s child care if teachers are able to stay home when they are sick without losing pay or worrying about job security.

I was delighted to learn that the teachers at my son’s child care have a paid leave package that covers sick days, and that they also allow longer tenured employees (who earn more leave than newer employees) to transfer their leave hours to colleagues who may need them.

But I know the child care industry does not typically provide workers with paid sick days.

Case in point, my mother recently retired after 25 years of teaching child care in Connecticut. She told me recently how relieved she is that she retired when she did, because she never had any sick days. She shudders to think how any teachers in the same situation this flu season will not be able to follow the CDC’s advise and stay home when they are sick.

Unfortunately, the national emphasis on staying home when sick is neglecting to acknowledge the fact that millions of workers in this country don’t have a single paid sick day. If they stay home, they get no pay. This isn’t exactly a great time to be losing income, especially for working families.

We all need a reality check.

Ask your child care provider, or the barista at your favorite coffee joint, or the worker preparing your lunch order, or working members of your family: “Can you afford to stay home if you feel sick?”

If they say no, ask them to tell their leaders in Congress that we need a minimum standard of paid sick days in this country.

Duh, employers. Let sick workers stay home

by Katie Bethell

The Centers for Disease Control released Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Businesses and Employers, which includes recommendations from the CDC, and a letter cosigned by the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Labor.

Their advice? Plan ahead and “encourage sick workers to stay home without penalty,”. You’d think this would go without saying, right? What employer would want someone with the swine flu to show up at work? As it turns out, lots of them.

Today, nearly 1/2 of the workforce doesn’t have paid sick days. And, to make matters worse, the people who are most likely to interact with the public, like restaurant employees, hotel staff, and home health providers are the least likely to have paid sick days (roughly 74% have no paid sick days at all). When illness strikes, people without paid sick days have a tough choice: go to work sick and put their own health and their coworkers at risk, or stay home to recover and lose pay and (maybe even their jobs).

The CDC does right to tell employers that by not having paid sick days, they are putting both their businesses and public health at risk. Commerce Secretary Locke says it himself: “If an employee stays home sick, it’s not only the best thing for that employee’s health, but also his co-workers and the productivity of the company.”

But these leaders don’t go far enough. The CDC and the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Labor should publicly support the Healthy Families Act (H.R.2460/S.1152). This bill, introduced in the House by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and in the Senate by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, simply ensures that employers allow all workers to earn a minimum of 7 paid sick days per year.

Without a law in place that sets a standard for earning paid sick days, we will never achieve the kind of economic and public health safety net that we need to combat issues like the H1N1 virus. We’ve encountered flu pandemics before, and we certainly will again, but businesses have not, on their own, adopted paid sick days policies despite the clear case for their benefit to businesses and the public alike.

It’s not rocket science. The simple standard proposed by the Healthy Families Act is necessary for addressing this, and future, public health and economic needs. It’s time for our leaders to speak out, and help bring our laws up to speed with common-sense public health practices.

Real Abuse - The Need for Paid Sick and Safe Days

This week, I met with an amazing woman. Her name is Bobbi and she lives in Milwaukee.

Bobbi has had a run of bad luck... to say the least.

The day Bobbi's son was born (pre-maturely at that), the insurance company cut her off. Left with heaps of hospital bills and bad credit, Bobbi came to be economically dependent on her boyfriend. After some time, this man became increasingly jealous and abusive. Bobbi and her son was trying to leave him, but this man snapped so badly, leaving the house shot up and Bobbi's jaw broken with plenty of matching body bruises.

Bobbi lost her job because she missed days of work while in the hospital, getting a restraining order, and relocating. Bobbi lost her job because she has no paid safe days.

Unfortunately, Judge Cooper could not see the connection between protecting victims of domestic violence like Bobbi, and protecting one's welfare, health, and safety. He ruled the Milwaukee Paid Sick Days Ordinance down because of the domestic violence protections in the ordinance.

Try finding a new job with your jaw wired shut.

Bobbi has a few things: She has a part time job in health care, huge health care bills, bad credit, nightmares, threatening letters, and a healthy 10 year old boy (she can't live with). Bobbi is still without any access to paid sick or safe days to protect her job if she gets sick, her son gets sick, or her ex gets out of jail.

You want to talk about high business costs and abuse of paid sick days?

Bobbi has experienced the high costs of NOT implementing Paid Sick Days in Milwaukee and REAL ABUSE.

The City must appeal the Judge's narrow and flawed ruling today... for Bobbi and other victims of DV who can't be beaten again.




If you want to help Bobbi take her boards to be a certified nurse, contact me: dana@9to5.org

CEPR- Paid Sick Days Don't Cause Unemployment

In this Center for Economic and Policy Research report, researchers find that there is no relationship between national unemployment rates and paid sick days legislation:

"Paid Sick Days Don't Cause Unemployment

June 2009, John Schmitt, Hye Jin Rho, Alison Earle, and Jody Heymann

Critics of legislation requiring employers to provide paid sick days frequently argue that these measures will lead to job loss and raise the national unemployment rate. However, this issue brief shows that the experience of 22 countries with the highest level of social and economic development (as measured by the Human Development Index) suggests that there is no statistically significant relationship between national unemployment rates and legally-mandated access to paid sick days and leave."

Click here to view the full report.

Prevent Swine Flu with Paid Sick Days

Swine flu, a potentially pandemic flu virus, is being reported all over the world including in the U.S. We now have over 60 confirmed cases in the U.S. and over a hundred deaths in Mexico. Five schools in Milwaukee have been closed for the rest of the week.

Problem:
Secretary of the Department Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, declared Swine Flu a public health emergency in the United States. White House officials monitoring the situation recommend that: "If you're sick, stay home, get treatment, go see a doctor."
That's easier said than done. Today, 43% of workers don't get a single paid sick day. How do the experts expect people to stay home when they're sick? For up to date information about swine flu, visit the Center for Disease Control website.

Solution:
Our country should allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and protect public health.

Take Action Now!
Ask your U.S. Representatives to support the Healthy Families Act by clicking here.
Sign our petition to tell our country's leaders that all workers need and deserve paid sick days
Keep pressure on Milwaukee Mayor Barrett to encourage paid sick time, join 9to5, community groups and kids at City Hall 3:30PM on May 6 for postcard delivery to the Mayor's office. The Mayor has started to reverse course acknowledging the "spirit" of paid sick time here and we want to make sure the city defends voters and the law, not the MMAC, in court May 11 (starting at 1:30PM, County Courthouse)

Please take action by May 15th.