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Special Report
A National Virus
Government-mandated sick pay is contagious and, thanks to left-wing special interests, may soon spread to a city near you.
In June, Connecticut became the first state to require businesses to provide paid sick leave for all service workers in the private sector. Democratic Governor Dan Malloy’s “sick pay” bill, which passed the state senate by a slim 18-17 margin, has drawn criticism for its potential job-killing effects. Republican legislator Al Adinolfi bemoaned another unfunded mandate that would force companies to think twice before making new hires, while State Senator Rob Kane pointed out that over 250 state businesses have opposed the measure, including the Connecticut Restaurant Association. Yet, Malloy’s new law will still go into effect on January 1, 2012, marking a decisive victory for the sick-pay movement — a well-funded conglomerate of liberal special interest groups pushing for similar regulations all over the country.
“This kind of legislation costs jobs, and costs job opportunities” says Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur. In Wilbur’s own backyard, leftist Seattle mayor Mike McGinn is supporting a sick-pay bill that is expected to pass into law this summer. “Government mandates create a general atmosphere of uncertainty in the business community. Businesses need predictability in order to expand, and if they’re concerned about the possibility of mandates then they’re not going to invest for the future.”
President Obama has been supporting sick pay on a federal level since 2009, hoping to add Connecticut congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s Healthy Families Act to his proud, LBJ-rivaling list of progressive reforms. But with Republicans controlling the House, national Democrats need to look elsewhere for help — to places like Connecticut and Seattle, and to B-list party politicians like Dan Malloy and Mike McGinn.
McGinn, a former civic activist himself, supported the sick-pay bill under pressure from a group called Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce. This group is supported, as are numerous other regional sick-pay activist groups, by an organization called FamilyValues@Work. Headed by Ms. Foundation Board Member Ellen Bravo, FamilyValues@Work is a “multi-state consortium” funding a “network of 15 state coalitions” around the country.
“This is a strategy I’ve been seeing for decades,” says Wilbur. “The sick-pay issue did not originate in the minds of the people of Seattle. It originated with national special interest groups who are now going city-by-city handing money to local activists. Ellen Bravo and her people don’t understand the Seattle business climate. They don’t know Seattle business owners. But they’re targeting liberal areas where they know their reforms will pass, and trying to gain national momentum.”
They started in San Francisco (a city that lost over 32,000 jobs this past year to place it second in national employment-decline rankings.) In 2006, Berkeley-educated activist Sara Flocks rode to the rescue of people she describes as “immigrant workers who pour us coffee and serve us food” but don’t earn wages when they run a fever. She worked with city councilors to draw up sick-pay legislation and sent her volunteers to stump on street corners and to dress as germs on the steps of City Hall. Her initiative passed.
The results were catastrophic. San Francisco quickly racked up $160 million a year in sick-pay costs (enough to create 1,800 new jobs, according to the Examiner) and abuses of the system ran rampant. Then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s secretary (and mistress) Ruby Rippey-Tourk even got in on the action, collecting $10,000 from the city for her “substance abuse” ailments. Still, Flocks claimed victory, gained new donors, and rose to national prominence.
Her group, Young Workers United, features socialist imagery on its website and touts its next-door Bay Area origins. Most of its funding, however, comes from major liberal advocacy groups in New York and Los Angeles, including the Ellen Bravo-affiliated Ms. Foundation and prominent Baby Boomer “rich kid foundations” like the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Vanguard Foundation, and the New World Foundation, of which Hillary Clinton was a Board Member in the 1980s.
Flocks has been particularly active in New York City, headlining talks at the progressive Drum Major Institute and winning critical acclaim in The Huffington Post. She has become a chattering-class celebrity, a photogenic success story to inspire the countless sick-pay outfits following her lead. She’s the first superstar of Ellen Bravo’s sick-pay activist network, but she likely won’t be the last. Bravo’s Connecticut captain Jon Green has been prominently, and glowingly, featured on Daily Kos, and Dana Schultz of Bravo’s Wisconsin branch has been featured on MSNBC.com.
When Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter vetoed a sick-pay bill in June on the grounds that it would hurt local business (Philadelphia was one of 210 metro areas that lost jobs in May), Bravo declared that Nutter’s opposition to the reform will be “shortlived.” Sadly, she may be right. Her Philadelphia surrogate group, Action United, is one of the toughest local organizations of its kind. It is also prone to headline-grabbing stunts, as when it taped thousands of postcards along the perimeter of City Hall.
“People like Ellen Bravo don’t pay attention to local conditions,” Wilbur says. “They only care about advancing their ideological agenda on a national level. They don’t care whose businesses they ruin, or whose jobs they take away.”
Since FamilyValues@Work was founded in 2008, Connecticut has lost 15,000 businesses, second-worst in the nation despite its small size. As of this summer, it seems those businesses won’t be relocating to Seattle.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
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jothepro| 7.5.11 @ 6:33AM
We have to take our country back. These losers will bring us all down unless WE stop them !!!!!!!
masly | 7.6.11 @ 4:18AM
Sick pay and other benefits should be agreed to by both employer and employee -- without any gov't involvement.
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Paul from SA| 7.5.11 @ 10:29AM
It's just another reason the gov't gives us to NOT hire people. I work for a small software co. desparetly needing to hire 2 people. But we are very, very selective, and are starting people with a part-time, temporary status to avoid paying the extras.
We will fire somebody before paying gov't-mandated sick pay.
bill carson| 7.5.11 @ 10:55AM
Personally, I don't care much anymore about job losses in this country. The American people have embraced Leftist causes, thinking there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for them. They deserve every bit of the downside of Leftist causes and Leftist politicians. There is no reason to feel sorry for crying Americans anymore.
Paul from SA| 7.5.11 @ 12:26PM
Liberals think this will be good for employees who take a lot of sick time away from work (Democrat workers), when in fact this will hurt those who take a lot of sick time -- they''ll be the first to get fired and last to get hired.
Similar to the minimum wage. Liberals believe raising the min. wage is good for min. wage workers, when in fact, it hurts them.
I understand some states are pushing for maternity leave for fathers. That's not good for the employment of future fathers.
Kevin Compton| 7.5.11 @ 12:27PM
My job is covered by a union contract and I get sick pay, sort of. If you're sick one day then you get nothing. You have to be sick two days to collect one day pay. Of course if you're sick three or more days then you need a release from your doctor to return to work so you better really be sick. It is limited as it's based on the number of hours you've worked but it accumulates if you don't use it and if you're a diligent worker you can use it as a sort of short term disability if you've accumulated enough hours.
caitlin| 7.5.11 @ 3:00PM
Sick pay should be available or similar the way Mr. Compton described.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be exposed to germs because someone couldn't afford to stay home and get better. In child care centers and schools, the rule is no fever for 24 hrs without advil or tylenol and you can be present.
Is there a way the sick pay can be funded like an insurance? A portion of your pay is put aside just for that?
Another question, Mr. Howley states that since 2008 when Family Values @ Work was founded, Connecticut lost 15,000 businesses. Were there other factors involved besides mandated sick pay?
c. j. acworth| 7.5.11 @ 6:26PM
AFLAC (you know, the guys with the duck) is sort of sick-injury insurance. They pick up some of the expenses not covered by regular insurance. Of course, there is nothing preventing each employee from setting aside a few bucks each week on their own as a rainy day fund, but that would be self-reliance and God knows where the country would end up if people started acting prudently instead of asking Uncle Sam to take care of everything. Think of the unemployment that would cause in D.C.!
Paul from SA| 7.5.11 @ 3:43PM
Sick pay and other benefits should be agreed to by both employer and employee -- without any gov't involvement.
I don't care if someone gets 3 months of paid golf days as long as the gov't isn't involved.
Wendy Gardner| 7.6.11 @ 6:41PM
I work in a factory. All I want is the sick days so that I or others won't lose our jobs. I don't even care if they are paid. It would be nice, but if it's such a job killer, can't we just have the protection of the days, without the money?
weddingdress | 7.7.11 @ 5:18AM
My job is covered by a union contract and I get sick pay, sort of. If you're sick one day then you get nothing. You have to be sick two days to collect one day pay. Of course if you're sick three or more days then you need a release from your doctor to return to work so you better really be sick. It is limited as it's based on the number of hours you've worked but it accumulates if you don't use it and if you're a diligent worker you can use it as a sort of short term disability if you've accumulated enough hours.
sunglasses| 7.8.11 @ 4:41AM
They deserve every bit of the downside of Leftist causes and Leftist politicians.
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tom| 7.14.11 @ 2:59PM
Know this might be a shock to your systems, but let's try looking at the facts of the bill itself, so we can put it in perspective. Per a reading of the actual CT bill:
Sick time accrues at only one hour for every 40 hours and the program excludes manufacturing and some tax-exempt organization...it only applies to service workers. Employees must also work an average of 10 hrs per/wk to take advantage of the program. Finally, it specifically doesn't prohibit an employer taking disciplinary action against an employee abusing this program.
Wow, one hour for every 40 hours? Only applies to service workers? Doesn't apply to anyone working an average of 10 hrs or less/per week? The vast majority of these service jobs are part-time, so many won't even qualify for the benefit. Sure, that will really be a job killer...not.