The discussion of paid sick leave in Madison is a familiar one to members of the Democratic Party. Nationally, Democrats have been working hard to tackle this issue, offering a reasonable bill in Congress to guarantee paid sick leave for all Americans. Our own Tammy Baldwin and Russ Feingold have been leaders in this effort.
But we all know that with the current administration, getting a national fix to the paid sick leave problem isn't likely to happen. Republicans like to talk about family values, but their policies don't value families. While they're busy pushing divisive anti-gay legislation, they're also busy fighting modest proposals like the one offered in Madison for paid sick leave that would dramatically help strengthen the family unit.
The Dane County Democratic Party is excited about this proposal. We were proud to be the first organization to endorse the proposal after it was publicly introduced.
Since the New Deal, the Democrats have always been the party of working people and this ordinance is a perfect and natural fit with our party's values. It is certainly our hope that Madison City Council members endorsed by the Democrats would embrace this modest proposal and support Madison's working families by helping to pass this ordinance.
While most employers do provide some sick leave, many do not. And these employers are typically the ones whose employees are also paid the lowest wages -- employees who can't afford to give up that pay for the relative luxury of staying home from work to take care of a sick child. These workers have to work even when they're ill. I'm sure we've all seen food service employees who are sick and coughing, but have to work anyway because their employer refuses to offer this common-sense benefit. This situation is unfair to the worker and to the rest of us.
The proposed sick leave ordinance creates a minimum standard to ensure income and job protection for workers. This ordinance doesn't target all businesses -- only those whose policies hurt the very workers who need paid sick leave the most. The ordinance would level the playing field for those employers who are already doing the right thing and giving their workers a few paid days of leave every year to deal with the minor illnesses that all of us -- and our children -- come down with.
Long term, we of course recognize that the best strategy to get paid sick leave and other pro-family legislation is to elect legislators who actually care about our working families in the State Capitol and in Washington, D.C. But in the short term, the venue we have to help struggling families is local government. Local action and leadership can quickly trickle up and become a national model that other cities, states and, eventually, the feds will copy.
* The Democratic Party has always been proud to stand with and for workers. We hope you'll join us in supporting this proposal, which would address an important public health concern, strengthen Madison's already thriving economy, and meaningfully benefit the city's workers.
\ Wayne Bigelow is chairman of the Dane County Democratic Party.