Paid Sick Leave Will Be a Conversation at Citizens' Forum This Week

Citizens' Forum is a monthly opportunity for members of the public to speak at a Tacoma City Council meeting on any topic over which the Council has jurisdiction. Some months only a few speakers show up, some months there are more.

It falls on the second Tuesday of the month, making tomorrow the day for the September forum, and we have a hunch it will be well-attended. Healthy Tacoma, a group formed to advocate for paid sick leave in Tacoma, and Washington State Labor Council are urging their members to show up this week to tell the City Council what they think about paid sick leave.

Friends, Supporters, and Coalition Members:

On September 9th, Healthy Tacoma members are joining together at Citizen’s Forum for one last hurrah in support for paid sick days!

Some members of the City Council got the message and are ready to act to get 40,000 Tacoma residents paid sick days. However, other City Council members are still on the fence and need to hear from us now!

We need you now more than ever to come to City Hall to stand in solidarity with us.

Numerous cities have passed paid sick days ordinances (11 to be exact)! With your help, Tacoma will be next. We have built up to this moment and have collected nearly 2,000 postcards from Tacoma residents like you who want the City Council to pass this. ...

The organizers of Healthy Tacoma are asking their supporters to urge Tacoma City Council members to support a paid sick leave ordinance that would mandate that employers provide paid sick leave in the case of an employee’s illness or injury, diagnosis, treatment, and preventative care; need to care for a family member; domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking – to seek medical attention, counseling or other services; relocate; or take legal action; or a public health emergency in which the place of business or a child's school is closed by order of a public official.

The proposal suggests minimum accrual of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, with caps on use based on business size - 40 hours in a year for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, and up to 72 hours in a year for those with more than 10 employees. Find more details at healthytacoma.net.

Supporters argue that access to sick leave for all workers will improve the local economy, public health, and business productivity. Opponents worry about the impacts on local businesses. The issue has come up at Citizens' Forums before, but with this big push, we're expecting to hear even more about it this week.

Citizens' Forum is open to the public, so anyone with an opinion on this issue (or any other) is welcome to speak. You get three minutes - what's your opinion?