Fighting for Paid Sick Days in LA City Hall

I have lived in Los Angeles for 19 years, but yesterday was my first time ever at LA City Hall. I went to represent NCJW/LA in a joining of the Paid Sick Leave delegation, part of the Raise the Wage Coalition. I was amongst lawyers, workers, organization members, advocates and other professionals involved in the Coalition. We went office to office speaking with LA City Council Members involved in the Economic Development Committee. We spoke with the staff members of Council Members Nury Martinez, Paul Krekorian, Mike Bonin, Bob Blumenfield, Paul Koretz, and Felipe Fuentes.

The leader of the delegation, Kokayi Jitahidi from LAANE, explained why Paid Sick Leave should be passed, some statistics about Paid Sick Leave and who it affects, and urged the Council Members to, at the very least, cosponsor or take charge of this issue. After his“>LA Times last week, an upscale restaurant in Long Beach shut down temporarily after several employees contracted the norovirus outbreak. Between May 1 and May 9, about 18 patrons and 3 employees experienced symptoms of the norovirus illness and 3 of the cases were“>In the United States, only 20% of workers whose wages are at the bottom 10% get paid sick leave compared to 87% of workers among the top 10% of earners.  Not only do workers not receive pay for sick leave, but they are also punished and retaliated against for their leave. The take away of this is that if employees and workers are given sufficient days for sick leave and