Paid Sick Days Needed For American Workers—Swine Flu Is Coming

There is concern about a second wave of Swine Flu in the United States that might be triggered in part by the start of the school year.

Many adults may need to take off work to take care of sick kids. Many adults may get sick themselves.

Yet many American workers don’t have paid sick time or don’t have enough paid sick time.

Here is a link to a Huffington Post story based on research by the Drum Major Institute about how many workers lack paid sick days in the United States. It is estimated that 46 million private sector workers do not have a single paid sick day.     

Here is the link to the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.

Legislation to guarantee American workers paid sick time was recently introduced in the House of Representatives.  We’ll see if it ever passes. With a Democratic President and large Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, you’d think long overdue legislation to make sure everybody has paid sick days would pass easily.  

You hear a lot of talk about family and children in the United States. But really what many have in America is contempt for any group of people who need some help to get by in day-to-day life. Many have this contempt even if the help required is something that people have earned by virtue of the work they have done.