“It is good news for San Diego’s workers, families, economy and public health that the city’s voters yesterday approved a long-overdue ordinance that will raise the city’s minimum wage and guarantee 279,000 California workers the right to use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year when they get sick, face domestic abuse or sexual assault, or have a family member who needs care. This means workers in San Diego will have access to up to 16 more hours of paid sick time per year than state law guarantees – the equivalent of two additional full-time days of work.
This vote was a clear and powerful rejection of a well-funded effort by big business groups to keep workers in San Diego from being guaranteed the paid sick days standard they want and need, and that the City Council approved twice. Among these paid sick days opponents is the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, even though recently leaked internal survey data show that state and local Chamber members and business executives across the country support family friendly policies like paid sick days and a higher minimum wage.
We applaud the Raise Up San Diego coalition for refusing to give up on this measure and on the well-being of San Diego’s workers, families, businesses and economy. The nation will now have 33 laws in place that keep workers from having to choose between a job and their health or family when illness strikes – including in Los Angeles, where the mayor signed a similar measure last week. As the country’s eighth largest city, this San Diego victory further makes the case that the nation is well on its way to the national paid sick days law we need.”
The National Partnership convenes a broad and diverse coalition that supports the Healthy Families Act, which is now before Congress and would establish a national paid sick days standard. More information can be found at PaidSickDays.org.
