Paid Sick Days ordinance a model for the nation

By Marilyn Watkins

Almost everyone working in Seattle will be guaranteed a few days of sick leave each year starting next September. Mayor McGinn signed Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave ordinance into law on September 23 in a lively ceremony at Plum Bistro, following an 8-to-1 vote by the City Council.

In addition to improving daily lives in Seattle and surrounding communities, this ordinance will have a powerful impact around the country. People in other cities and states want to use our ordinance as a model for their own. They also want to know how we won council passage despite intense opposition.

The Ordinance is great news for the 190,000 workers who don’t get any paid sick leave now, and for the many additional workers who are penalized if they take the leave they’ve earned. It’s good news for all of us who shop, eat out, or ride the bus – and now risk exposure to illness from people who can’t afford to stay home when sick. It’s good news for all the children whose health and schooling have suffered because their parents can’t get off work to take them to the pediatrician or nurse them through illness.

Paid sick days will help restore economic security to working families, reclaim the dignity of labor, and rebuild the middle class.

PSARA members helped win this historic victory. Without the outpouring of e-mails and phone calls, and the standing-room only crowds at hearings and forums, the City Council would have followed the road urged by the Chamber of Commerce – delaying action until we just gave up.

Seattle’s ordinance covers most of the half million workers within the city limits. Starting in September 2012, companies with the equivalent of 5 to 49 full-time workers must allow workers to earn up to 5 paid sick days, firms with 50 to 249 must provide 7 days, and larger firms 9 days. Companies are free to provide leave as flexible-use paid time off (PTO), so long as the leave can be used as needed for the health needs of the worker or close family members, or to deal with consequences of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Large firms, if they do use PTO, must provide at least 13.5 days.

Key to our success was collaborating from the beginning with small business owners on designing the policy. People like Makini Howell, owner of Plum Bistro and Jody Hall, owner of Cupcake Royale, became vocal advocates. These small employers and many others like them are organized into the Main Street Alliance, a new, more progressive association of small business owners. While the Main Street Alliance did not take a position on the Paid Sick Days ordinance, a number of the small business owners within the Alliance supported the ordinance.

Working people and seniors also turned out in force and spoke about the real cost of being forced to choose between taking care of health needs or paying the bills. And we had staunch champions on the City Council, especially in Nick Licata and Jean Godden. In the end, only Richard Conlin voted no.

We succeeded because we listened to each other and worked together – and because people who usually don’t have much say in policymaking had a chance to participate here. We can all be proud both of passing good groundbreaking policy and of demonstrating democracy at its best.