Paid Sick Leave: It's Good All Around
Nobody wants restaurant workers sneezing and coughing into their food. But recent inaction by Council Speaker Christine Quinn has made that almost inevitable. This is New York; people eat out a lot here. And to protect the consumer-- and the worker-- restaurant employees need paid sick leave.
Nobody wants restaurant workers sneezing and coughing into their food. But recent inaction by Council Speaker Christine Quinn has made that almost inevitable. This is New York City, where people eat out all the time. Therefore, to protect the consumer-- and the worker-- restaurant workers need paid sick leave. The Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) is a membership-based organization that works to build a base of power and win justice among restaurant workers who face exploitative and abusive workplaces. A countless number of restaurant workers with whom we spoke over the years said that they are forced to work while sick. Either their employer makes them come to work if they can't get their shift covered or they're forced to choose between losing a day's pay in order to stay home and care for themselves or their sick family member. However, a loss of pay for one day is significant among low-wage restaurant workers. Both scenarios are bad for the worker and bad for the consumer.
The report Behind the Kitchen Door was the basis for our participation in a 19-month campaign to get paid sick leave for all workers in New York, with countless meetings, phone calls, and actions. We looked to San Francisco, where they were able to pass paid sick day legislation without any ensuing harm to small businesses or the economy. We couldn't help to wonder why New York City hadn't yet followed their lead. We thought surely our City would do so when it's understood how many New Yorkers were in support.
We joined the Paid Sick Leave Coalition and identified Councilmember Gale Brewer, to champion the campaign. There was overwhelming support within the City Council-- in fact, there was a veto-proof majority; however, Speaker Quinn decided that she would not call a vote, but would instead revisit the issue every two months, claiming that the proposed law, if enacted, would hurt small businesses.
At ROC-NY, we always try to show that businesses, both small and large, prosper from doing the right thing. Providing workers with good working conditions and benefits, such as paid sick leave, is an investment that can benefit the worker, the consumer, and the employer in the long-term. We've had restaurant owners testify before City Council to that effect -- for instance, the General Manager of One if Land, Two if by Sea, a fine dining establishment in Greenwich Village. While they understand the importance of offering benefits like paid sick leave to their employees and are committed to doing so, it is unfair that they have to compete with businesses, some larger and more resourceful, that do not do the same for their employees.
Quinn has promised to reconsider introducing paid sick leave legislation every two months, leaving us all an opening to change her mind and make this important policy change. She cares about food, as evidenced by her new "ground-to-garbage approach" plan to a secure food system. Now, we need to encourage her to show care for food workers. We hope that you will call Speaker Quinn at (212) 564-7757 and tell her that you're excited about her new initiative and that you care about how your food is grown and about its environmental impacts, but you also care about the people who prep, cook, and serve our foods-- along with your own health! Remember, paid sick days are an integral part of a healthy food system.
