Family Values at Work - A Multi-State Consortium

Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition, coordinated by Greater Boston Legal Services on behalf of Massachusetts ACORN, and in conjunction with the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Jewish Alliance for Social Action, includes more than 70 grassroots organizations, unions, businesses, advocates, law makers, doctors, researchers and policy analysts advocating for state paid sick days legislation. The paid sick days bill would ensure that all Massachusetts workers have a minimum of seven days of paid time off annually, earned over time, to take care of their own health needs, and those of their families (child, spouse, parent or parent of spouse), and to provide time for workers who are victims of domestic violence to care for their physical, psychological and legal needs. When public health experts advised that people with H1N1 symptoms stay home for at least seven days, Coalition supporters wearing surgical masks delivered to the State House, "prescriptions" for H1N1 that included paid sick days. In July 2009 the Coalition organized a forum in support of paid sick days before the Caucus of Women Legislators, at which the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission warned that there will be a resurgence of swine flu in the fall and that without state legislation protecting workers' jobs, parents will not be able to keep their sick children home, and cities and towns will have to take more "Draconian" measures to contain the flu, such as, closing schools and businesses. 

The Institute for Women's Policy Research estimated the costs and benefits of the Act Establishing Paid Sick Days and found that Massachusetts businesses would save a total of $130,000,000 if paid sick days were guaranteed. To read the summary of the February 2009 report, Valuing Good Health in Massachusetts: The Costs and Benefits of Paid Sick Days, click here.

On Thursday, August 20th, 2009, an event was held in the Springfield, MA with several State Representatives, including the Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, to bring attention to the dire need and broad community support for paid sick days policy. Click here to read an article about the Family Fun Day in support of Paid Sick Days.

In September 2009, at the Mass AFL-CIO Convention of 2009, union delegates from across the state passed a resolution to pledge continued support for enactment of comprehensive paid sick days legislation. To read the full text of the resolution that was passed, click here.

On October 7, 2009, the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition held a press conference on An Act Establishing Paid Sick Days, and the labor committee heard testimony on the bill, which is sponsored by Senator Patricia D. Jehlen and Representative Kay Khan.

At the press conference, the Coalition released the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of Paid Sick Days in Massachusetts funded in part by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. Phil Johnston, Chair of BCBSMA Foundation, moderated the press conference which included: Bob Haynes, President, MA AFL-CIO, Jonathan Heller, Director of Human Impact Partners, which conducted a national Health Impact Assessment on paid sick days and the HIA in Massachusetts, Dr. Anita Barry, Director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at the Boston Public Health Commission, and Andy Epstein, Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

At the hearing the labor committee heard testimony from 15 experts, labor leaders, workers, businesses and grassroots organizations in support of paid sick days policy and received written testimony from Coalition members on the immediate need for paid sick days policy.  In addition, several legislators including the lead sponsors and many of the 95 co-sponsors provided testimony, concluding with the testimony of one of the Senate President's leadership team, all in support of the policy.

You can read the Massachusetts HIA here: http://www.humanimpact.org/PSD.

News Coverage of the press conference and the hearing:
WGBH's Greater Boston: "Oct. 7, 2009 - A bill to make paid sick time mandatory"
NECN: "Push to make sure all workers get paid sick days"
Lowell Sun: "Bill would guarantee paid sick days for Mass. workers"
Arlington Advocate, Dover-Sherborn Press and Belmont Citizen Herald: "With Flu worries, paid sick days act pitched as public health measure"
Sentinal and Enterprise: "Mass. sick leave bill gains momentum"
Bay State Banner: "Labor committee reviewing bill mandating paid sick days"

Contact: Ellen Wallace, ewallace@gbls.org, 617 603 1672
www.gbls.org; www.massaflcio.org/paid-sick-days; Become a fan of the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition on www.Facebook.com.