Maryland Becomes Ninth State with Paid Sick Days

Statement by Family Values @ Work Co-Director Wendy Chun-Hoon

“Persistence, power, political pressure – that’s what led to the paid sick days victory in Maryland today. We congratulate our member coalition, Working Matters, for holding their elected officials accountable to override the Governor’s veto of the Healthy Working Families Act. As a Maryland resident, I’m especially excited to see my state become the 9th state, and the 41st jurisdiction in the U.S., to pass this commonsense measure to keep workers healthy and safe.

This is a great win for all of us. Working Matters is a broad and diverse coalition that elevated the support for this issue across a wide range of partners, from labor and business owners to public health professionals and advocates against domestic and sexual violence. After years of fighting for this basic protection, today’s victory is especially sweet. Nearly 700,000 Marylanders who previously lacked access to a single paid sick day can now breathe a sigh of relief that they no longer have to ignore their own health in order to keep food on the table.

Maryland is the first of multiple wins expected by our movement in 2018. We hope to see paid sick days pass in the first southern city (Austin, TX,) another midwestern city (Duluth, MN,) an additional state (New Jersey) and a county in New York state (Westchester) – and that’s just in the first quarter of the year.”