All workers need the ability to earn paid sick days so they can take leave from their jobs to care for themselves or their loved ones when they are sick or injured. The coronavirus pandemic has made the need for this basic right — guaranteed to workers in other wealthy nations but not here in the United States — clearer than ever.
Paid sick leave is more than a workers’ rights issue. It’s also a civil rights issue.
Lawyers, engineers, and others in the higher-paying “professional” class are far more likely than frontline, lower-income workers to have access to paid sick leave, the American Civil Liberties Union recently noted. They’re also more likely to be able to work from home during the pandemic, putting them at far less risk of contracting COVID-19.
And they’re more likely to be white.
Due to long-standing structural inequities and intentional discrimination, lower-income workers are more likely to be Black or Brown — and more likely to work on the front lines of the pandemic. Yet only half of those in the lowest-paid quarter of the workforce have access to paid sick leave. About one in two Latino workers and one in three Black workers have no access to paid leave, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
The nation’s public health leaders are calling on workers to stay home if they contract or are exposed to COVID-19. But many workers can’t afford to take leave without pay to recover from the virus, much less quarantine for a full two weeks to prevent its spread.
In short, Black and Brown workers are most in need of paid sick leave — but least likely to have it, as the ACLU notes. It’s no surprise, then, that Black and Brown workers are dying from the disease at higher rates.
To quell the pandemic, advance equity, and strengthen our society, we need a federal law to ensure that no worker is forced to choose between their life and their livelihood.
It’s a matter of justice — of economic justice.
Congress took a modest first step toward this goal nearly three decades ago when it passed the nation’s first law to help Americans meet both their work and family obligations. Enacted on this date in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) enables some workers to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to care for themselves or their family members.
But because the FMLA only requires employers to provide unpaid leave, many of those who are eligible for leave can’t afford to take it. What’s more: It doesn’t apply to the entire workforce; about 40 percent of workers aren’t covered.
The federal government has taken some steps in the right direction since 1993. In 2019, Congress cleared a law providing federal workers with paid leave. And last year, it approved a temporary paid sick and family leave benefit in a coronavirus relief package, but the benefit expired at the end of the year. President Joe Biden has proposed an economic stimulus package that would extend mandatory paid sick leave benefits through September, a proposal now under consideration in Congress.
In the absence of a permanent paid leave law, some states have enacted their own paid sick leave laws, but many don’t go far enough. At CPR, we’re tracking efforts to expand Maryland’s paid leave law so that it applies to food and farm workers (and others).
No worker — in Maryland or any other state — should be forced into making a “devil’s choice” between paying their bills and caring for themselves or their loved ones, especially during a pandemic. All workers, of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, need paid sick leave. It’s time to address this important civil rights issue — and bring our country in line with the rest of the developed world.
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Allison Stevens | February 5, 2021
All workers need the ability to earn paid sick days so they can take leave from their jobs to care for themselves or their loved ones when they are sick or injured. The coronavirus pandemic has made the need for this basic right -- guaranteed to workers in other wealthy nations but not here in the United States -- clearer than ever. Paid sick leave is more than a workers' rights issue. It's also a civil rights issue.
Maggie Dewane | February 4, 2021
To combat the climate crisis and air pollution that so often impacts BIPOC communities, the US must overhaul its infrastructure and energy systems.
Katlyn Schmitt | February 4, 2021
Virginia's General Assembly is more than halfway through its legislative session -- and state lawmakers are considering several important bills that would address environmental justice, pipelines, climate change, and public health. If passed, these bills will establish lasting environmental, health, and climate change protections for Virginia and its communities.
Katie Tracy | February 3, 2021
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has signaled a new openness to the concerns of our nation’s workers -- and we at CPR are joining our allies today in calling on his administration to go much further to make workplace safety a top priority.
Hannah Wiseman | February 2, 2021
As President Biden continues to roll out executive orders prioritizing climate change, it is increasingly clear that there will be a relatively rapid U.S. shift toward renewable energy from the sun, wind and other sources. Indeed, many states are already pushing ahead with ambitious renewable and clean energy policies. These policies will reduce air pollution, spur extensive economic development in rural areas and make progress on the climate front. This "revolution," as Biden calls it, is critical. But the bulk of renewables that have been built in the United States are large, centralized projects requiring thousands of miles of transmission lines -- primarily in rural communities. A revolution that continues to prioritize these projects risks failure.
Darya Minovi | February 2, 2021
Last week, I joined Maryland Del. Vaughn Stewart (D-Montgomery County) and State Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Carroll and Howard counties) to discuss pollution threats to the state’s drinking water and legislation that, if enacted, would create a private well safety program in Maryland.
Daniel Farber | February 1, 2021
Big Tobacco’s Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 was the largest civil settlement in the nation’s history and a transformative moment in the industry’s control. The accord reached by 46 states, five United States territories, and the District of Columbia required tobacco manufacturers to pay the states billions of dollars annually in compensation for the public health crisis their products had created. Today, an even bigger crisis looms, with increasing demands for accountability. Over a dozen federal cases have now been filed against oil companies, seeking damages for their role in causing climate change. With one exception, the cases have been brought by states or local governments that claim they and their citizens are suffering harm from climate change. The oil companies have made it clear that they will fight every inch of the way, with all of their considerable resources, against these lawsuits.
Katie Tracy, Katlyn Schmitt | January 27, 2021
The Maryland General Assembly is kicking into full gear -- and we at the Center for Progressive Reform are tracking bills that would protect the health and safety of Maryland workers in the food and farm sectors. These protections are urgently needed to protect these workers from COVID-19 infections and keep the public healthy and safe.
Hannah Wiseman | January 27, 2021
When President Trump took office in 2017, the Department of the Interior quickly moved to lease nearly all offshore lands for oil and gas development. The map was astounding; for decades, there had been relatively limited drilling in offshore waters, and many state officials and advocates were shocked to see a proposal for such extensive leasing of offshore federal lands. Indeed, notoriously conservative Rick Scott of Florida entered into a handshake deal with former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to avoid drilling near the state. Trump's Interior Department also attempted to lease vast swaths of onshore public lands for fossil fuel development. President Biden has predictably followed a different approach, announcing his intent to place a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal onshore and offshore lands. This is a sensible solution.