Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Paid Sick Days Coalition is a broad, diverse coalition of groups working together to engage the Milwaukee community in a fight for healthy families and a stronger economy. Led by 9to5 Wisconsin, National Association of Working Women, the coalition includes labor, health groups, civil rights and faith organizations, advocates for children, good jobs, and an end to domestic violence.

In 2008, the Paid Sick Days Coalition developed a campaign for a ballot initiative enabling all workers to earn some paid sick time. The statute required 26,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot; the coalition gathered 42,000. That November the ballot initiative won nearly 70% of the votes. After a long legal battle with the corporate lobbyists and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce who held up implementation of the law, the Court of Appeals announced the overwhelmingly popular ordinance constitutional and ordered Milwaukee to lift the injunction. Since then Governor Scott Walker and a new state legislature have passed a law that preempts any city from enacting legislation that goes above and beyond what state law provides. The Paid Sick Days Coalition remains embattled within the state, fighting for job creation where workers don’t have to choose between the job they need and the health of their family.