https://socialistaction.org/2018/06/16/duluth-workers-win-safe-and-sick-time-ordinance/
Duluth workers win safe and sick time ordinance
/ 4 days ago
July 2018 Duluth city council
Supporters of the sick and safe time ordinance attend a
standing-room-only Duluth city council meeting. (Steve Kuchera / Duluth
News Tribune)
By ADAM RITSCHER
— DULUTH, Minn. — On May 29, by a vote of 7 to 1, the Duluth City
Council passed an “Earned Safe and Sick Time” ordinance. The new law
mandates that all business owners in the city give their workers time
off when they are sick and need time off for other pressing personal
matters. The law was passed after a long and hard-fought battle,
spearheaded by a coalition of union and community activists.
Frustrated by stagnant wages and the rising cost of living, working
people across the country are demanding change. Yet our country’s
“leaders” continue to concern themselves with nothing but the enrichment
of the wealthy elites. Out of desperation, some activists are turning to
local initiatives, like municipal minimum-wage laws, earned safe and
sick time mandates, and other similar projects. However, wherever these
local initiatives have been attempted, they have been met by fierce
opposition, including some states’ passing laws banning the right of
municipalities to even take up these kinds of issues.
Such was the case in Duluth. Activists were able to mobilize an
impressive amount of community support in support of the demand for the
safe and sick time mandate. This mobilization compelled the city council
to set up a task force to hold public hearings on the matter, and make a
recommendation. At these hearings several dozen low-wage workers
testified about having to come in sick or lose out on pay—often with
heart-breaking consequences.
When the task force ended up proposing the city pass an ordinance
allowing workers to earn one hour of paid time off for every 30 hours
worked, the city’s business community had an allergic reaction.
Opposition was in particular spearheaded by a number of prominent
businesses like Grandma’s Restaurants and St. Luke’s Hospital.
Initially, despite the obvious falsehood of it, they claimed that almost
all Duluth businesses already had earned safe and sick time. They later
retreated to the odd claim that it would be too complicated to keep
track of the hours worked. After neither of these flimsy ploys gained
any traction, the business elite resigned themselves to the law’s being
passed, and instead focused their efforts on pleading with the city
council to make it as weak as possible.
In this, unfortunately, the Democratic Party-dominated city council was
all to eager to comply. It is claimed that this is the most progressive
collection of city councilors the city has ever had. But if that is the
case, it says something quite unflattering about what “progressive”
means in the Democratic Party. Despite the overwhelming popular support
for the task force’s proposals, the council voted again and again to
whittle away at them. In doing so they dragged out the process for
several months.
They voted to exempt businesses based on seasonal workers, as well as
those with less than five workers. Given Duluth’s tourism-based economy,
tragically, this eliminated a large number of workers. However, the
biggest setback was the slashing of the number of hours a worker has to
work before getting one hour of paid sick time. The council voted first
to water it down from 30 to 1, to 40 to 1. Then, they voted to cut it to
50 to 1.
This proposal was defeated after workers filled the council chamber on
the day of the vote. However, at the following council meeting, a small
coterie of well-dressed business owners appeared to ask the councilors
to reconsider. Determined to seize defeat from the jaws of victory, the
council accepted their request, and voted by a large majority to re-vote
on the 50 to 1 proposed formula, which this time passed. It was in this
watered-down form that they finally voted to enact the Earned Safe and
Sick Time ordinance.
The end result is, nevertheless, a gain for working people in Duluth.
Thousands of workers will now finally have at least limited access to
paid time off to deal with health and family emergencies. But this could
have been, and should have been, a much bigger win. The city council’s
capitulation is inexcusable. We salute the hundreds of workers and
activists who fought so hard for this, and we will remember the
unfortunate actions of the city councilors.
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June 16, 2018 in Uncategorized.
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