I’m so proud to be part of the movement for paid leave for all. This movement centers those of us who’ve been called essential workers but feel like excluded workers. It speaks to something everyone can relate to: being able to take care of yourself or the ones you love. With the pandemic, we need inclusive paid leave now more than ever.
Everyone gets sick. Not surprisingly, paid leave is hugely popular with voters across the political spectrum. It doesn’t make sense that taking time to care for yourself or those you love is something you can get punished for with the loss of your job, your hours, your pay.
Fortunately, after decades of activism, Congress is poised to pass a national paid leave program as part of a budget resolution on much-needed human infrastructure.
We think of infrastructure as buildings and roads. We have to also think about the people doing that building. When we improve their ability to give care, we improve their mental health, physical health, their relationship with the people around them and their families, their economic stability, and their ability to do their jobs.
I work in the service industry and don’t get paid time from my employer. Last year, my roommate got COVID. Having to quarantine became an obstacle course. I can’t imagine how I would have managed if I’d gotten COVID. Just losing those two weeks of work meant losing half my rent money. Paid leave would have helped so much.
Two years ago, I had to choose making money over being with my mom when she was sick and had a breast cancer scare. My employers refused to let me leave to be with her; they threatened my job.
We cannot function as a society without our caretakers. If we want to move forward bigger and better, we need to treat caretakers with respect and dignity.
A lot of us, myself included, work in low-wage jobs, even sub-minimum wage jobs, with no paid time off. There is no saving up hours for an emergency. You either work and make money or have nothing.
Many of these are jobs held by immigrants and workers from Black and Brown communities. Those are the people who would benefit the most from paid leave for all. They are the backbone of the country, the reason we’ve been able to survive since the pandemic began.
To reach everyone, the paid leave program needs to ensure adequate time, at least 12 weeks, so people can deal with lasting effects from COVID as well as other serious medical conditions, bonding with a new child or caring for a loved one. The leave needs to be affordable and ensure we can return to work. And it needs to be inclusive, recognize and cover all families, whether by blood or chosen family.
How are we going to pay for this? Why don’t we ask how Jeff Bezos can pay for a trip into outer space when he can’t manage an adequate hourly wage for Amazon workers? So many billionaires and big corporations have gotten richer during the pandemic, yet I pay a bigger chunk of my wages in taxes than they do. Right now working people are paying for the high cost of the lack of paid leave. Having wealthy corporations and individuals pay more of their fair share won’t affect them or their livelihoods or even their abundant wealth, but it will make a huge difference for all of us and for our nation.
I hope the politicians who have the power to make change will hear our stories and use their voices to elevate ours. I hope they’ll use this bus tour as an opportunity to listen to the people who supported them and in turn support us by passing paid leave for all.
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Nour Qutyan lives in Philadelphia, PA, where she is an activist in Restaurant Opportunities Center United and a member of the Voices of Workers group of the Paid Leave for All campaign.
