On Women’s Equality Day, Activists push for Guaranteed Paid Sick Days

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2010

CONTACT: rosemaryh [at] 9to5 [dot] org (Rosemary Harris Lytle,) National Public Relations Coordinator 303.628.0925 or 719.233.0243

National Day of Action-Healthy Workplaces: Paid Sick Days Now

Milwaukee, Wis. (August 26, 2010) – Thousands of activists across the country celebrated Women’s Equality Day by taking action to support paid sick days: Staging historic re-enactments, conducting rallies, passing out literature and telling their stories.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of women’s right to vote, and is commonly referred to as Women’s Equality Day. Instituted by Rep. Bella Abzug and first established in 1971, the date commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave U.S. women full voting rights in 1920.

“This day – Women’s Equality Day – is perhaps the most appropriate time to make a connection between women’s engagement in the public process and women using their voices to uplift one of today’s most urgent work-family needs: the need for paid sick days,” said Linda Meric, Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women.

9to5, which has as its mission strengthening the ability of low-wage women to win economic justice, sponsored the Women’s Equality Day National Day of Action, provided literature, tools and resources and invited its members, activists and partner organizations to design events specific to their own communities.

9to5 has staffed offices in Milwaukee, Denver, Atlanta, San Jose and Los Angeles and members in cities throughout the U.S. Events took place in dozens of communities including San Jose, Phoenix, Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

The 9to5 National Day of Action – Healthy Workplaces: Paid Sick Days Now called attention to the need for proposed federal legislation, the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460, S. 1152), which would guarantee paid sick days for every American worker. Many called on Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the act.

“I know how important this is from personal experience,” said Tahirah Foster, a 25-year-old single mother in Denver who lost her job when she had to leave work when her asthmatic daughter was hospitalized. “No one should have to choose between taking care of her child and keeping her job – but that’s exactly what happened to me. And I have been unemployed ever since.”