Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tell KCFR News that we need Paid Sick Days!

KCFR News wants to hear YOUR input about H1N1 flu and what you are doing to prepare. Go to the link provided to share your thoughts, and be sure to include that WE ALL NEED paid sick days in order to adequately prepare!

Only 57% of Coloradans have access to even one paid sick day and even less can take a paid sick day to care for a sick child or family member. Low-wage workers are the least likely to have access to paid sick days, meaning they are forced to make impossible choices between caring for their health or losing pay or possibly a job. In order to keep our community healthy, we must guarantee access to paid sick days for all Colorado workers.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Paid Sick Days letter printed in Denver Post

Printed on Sept. 25th in the Denver Post in response to "1 in 6 uninsured in Colorado" (9/22)

We hear so much these days about the lack of health care and the need for health care reform. But it is heartbreaking to see how that plays out in communities right here in Colorado. All Americans need and deserve access to care.

We also need and deserve the time to care.

While one in six Coloradans lack health insurance, [one in two] Colorado workers lack a paid sick day to care for themselves or their children in times of illness. It’s heartbreaking to think of children who must stay at home alone or must go to school ill because there is no one able to care for them.

Just as we need health insurance, we also need guaranteed paid sick days for every Colorado worker so that, in these tough times, no one will have to choose between caring for themselves or a loved one and keeping a job.

Erin Bennett, Denver