Action Alert: Paid Sick Days Now! Pass the Healthy Families Act

Healthy Families Act

Please urge your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor the Healthy Families Act. This important legislation would guarantee up to seven paid sick days per year for workers to recover from their own illness or care for a sick family member.

Working people shouldn't be forced to risk their jobs to take care of themselves or their families. Yet, nearly half of all workers do not have a single paid sick day to care for themselves or a family member when they are ill.

Swine Flu, a potentially pandemic virus, has become a public health emergency in the U.S. The CDC is recommending that if people feel sick, they should see a doctor and stay home. Without paid sick days, working people do not have the option to stay home without losing much-needed income or possibly their jobs. Most often, workers have no choice but to go to work sick, risking the spread of illness.

Right now, we cannot take this chance. The Healthy Families Act will provide everyone the chance to stay home, ensuring that Swine Flu does not continue to spread and turn into a full-blown pandemic.

 Your U.S. Representative
 Your U.S. Senator

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Subject: (required) Dear Senator, On behalf of the members and constituents of 9to5, National Association of Working Women, I urge you to support the Healthy Families Act, (H.R. 2460, S 1152). 9to5 is a 35-year-old national, membership-based organization of low-income women, working to improve policy on issues related to ending discrimination, strengthening the safety net, and creating good jobs with policies that promote family-flexibility. We strongly support the Healthy Families Act (HFA), federal legislation that would allow workers to earn paid sick days so they can care for their own and their family’s health needs without risking their jobs or their pay. In these tough economic times, and especially with the declaration of H1N1 flu as a national emergency, we must protect the public health and protect jobs. Consider the many problems facing working Americans, particularly low-wage working women, who lack paid sick days on the job: -Tahirah, of Denver, was employed at a fast food restaurant but lacked paid sick days – a particular problem because her 4-year-old daughter suffers with asthma. After several instances where her employer refused to allow Tahirah to leave work when her daughter became ill at her preschool, Tahirah was forced to quit. She now works as a part-time political canvasser, a job that still doesn’t offer paid sick days and doesn’t pay as much. -Latisha, of Milwaukee, was pregnant when she contracted H1N1 flu in June. The problem: she lacked paid sick days. She knew she had no choice but to report to work but worried about passing the flu to her co-workers. Still, with two children to care for and another on the way, she worried more about what it would mean to her family if she lost pay or lost her job simply because she got sick. -Angel, of Lancaster, California, represents all the American workers struggling mightily to keep themselves healthy in unhealthy environments because they lack access to paid sick days. She uses hand sanitizer constantly, wears rubber gloves, and dons a plastic protective mask whenever there’s a sick co-worker nearby. Still, she works in fear. “I am absolutely terrified of getting sick because I don’t make much money, don’t have paid sick days and might lose my job if I get sick and have to stay home.” What makes sense to the American worker should also make sense to the leaders they’ve elected to serve them. More than 57 million workers lack paid sick days; nearly 100 million lack a paid sick day they can use to care for an ill child. The time is now for the United States to establish a basic labor standard of paid sick days. Please support this vital legislation. Thank you for your consideration. Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this matter further. Sincerely, Important: Your name and contact information are required to identify you to the recipient(s) of this message listed above. (* indicates required field)   Name: First* MI Last*     Email:* Phone: Address:*   City*, State*, Zip*: , Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas US Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming    Do not send me future Action Alerts