Paid leave statutes advance in D.C., Maryland

The nationwide movement towards enacting paid parental and family leave laws took two more steps in February, with a jam-packed hearing before the Washington, D.C., City Council and re-introduction of paid leave in the Maryland Legislature.

Both measures are part of a nationwide movement by unions, progressives and women’s rights groups to enact paid parental and family leave state by state and city by city, since the Republican-run U.S. Congress refuses to even consider the issue. Rhode Island, New Jersey and California have full paid leave laws, while Washington and Oregon have partial paid leave laws.

Workers in D.C., mobilized by unions and Jews United for Justice, testified on Feb. 11 on a revised paid leave ordinance by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. Businesses panned his initial proposal – for 16 weeks of paid leave – as way too costly compared to other such legislation, even in the metro area.

Mendelson then cut the number of weeks to 12 in his discussion draft of the legislation. He also narrowed the definition of family members for whom people could take the leave, and required workers to exhaust regular sick leave first.

That troubled advocates of the legislation, but they nevertheless said they would work with him and the rest of the council to improve it. The Mendelson measure would cover approximately 70 percent of D.C. workers. The rest are federal workers.

“We applaud the chairman for taking a step in the right direction to help ease pressures facing low-wage workers in the District,” said Service Employees Local 32BJ President Jaime Contreras. “However, we have concerns that corporate lobbyists will continue to try to weaken the bill. Working families should always come first for the District, especially given that businesses will assuredly continue to thrive in the District’s strong and growing economy.”

In Maryland, unionists rallied behind the Working Families Act by State Rep. Luke Clippinger on Feb. 9. The heavily Democratic legislature is considered to be in favor of paid leave, but bills for six weeks of leave did not get out of legislative committees last year.

GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, who last year granted state workers several days of paid leave to enlist in volunteer activities, told The Baltimore Sun the issue would have to be negotiated with the state workers’ unions. Clippinger’s bill, however, covers all workers.

In Maryland, the Laborers, the Maryland State Education Association, AFSCME, the Food and Commercial workers and SEIU are part of a wide-ranging family leave coalition.

“I can’t afford to miss a day’s pay to take time off, even when I feel very ill,” said Baltimore security officer Paul Brown, an SEIU 32BJ member during a press conference on the bill. “Low-wage workers like me know the drill:  If you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid. This meant I had to ignore my body’s advance warnings that a heart attack was in my future. I didn’t get treated when I should have and it nearly cost me my life.”

“Far too many Maryland workers must regularly make impossible choices between their jobs, their health, and the well-being of their families,” said Clippinger. “Other cities and states that implemented modest earned sick leave laws have subsequently seen healthy business climates, minimal costs, lower flu rates and strong job growth. Maryland can do the same.”

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