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Supporters of Paid Employee Sick Leave Rallied in front of The Michaelian Building in White Plains Monday and included representatives from The Communications Workers of America, Transport Workers Union Local 100, SEIU 32BJ, Westchester-Putnam Central Labor Body; Community Voices Heard, Westchester for Change; Lower Hudson Valley Progressive Action Network/LHVPAN, Indivisible Westchester, Westchester Social Justice Community, Mount Vernon United Tenants, Sustainable Port Chester Alliance, Irvington Activists, NY Paid Leave Coalition, Working Families Party. WPCNR Photo by Diana Das

WPCNR MARTINE AVENUE JOURNAL.  From the Service Employees International Union 32BJ with Supplemental Reporting by WPCNR. MAY 22, 2018:

Labor organizations staged a demonstration on Martine Avenue at the County Office Building demanding passage of the Earned Employee Sick Leave by the County Board of Legislators.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer has said he will sign the Earned Sick Leave bill, which was introduced by Legislator Borgia last year, if adopted by the Board of Legislators..

WPCNR talked with Jason Chervokas, Director of Communications for the Westchester County Board of Legislators Tuesday morning who told WPCNR the county attorney has briefed the Committee on extensive changes in the law and said it was just at the beginning of the legislative process.

Asked if the law had penalties built into it that the county would apply to employers who declined to comply with the earned sick leave program, Chervokas said the law as it stands now did not. He said the law allowed personal action to be brought against an employer.

Mr. Chervokas said the meeting history of the current legislation could be read at this link:

http://westchestercountyny.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=None&MeetingID=4977&MediaPosition=&ID=10623&CssClass=  — you’ll see the meeting history of the current legislation.

The current draft of the bill is at this link:

1.    And if you look in the attachments section of that page you’ll see a link labelled:

LL – Paid sick leave for Certain Employees – DRAFT 2

According to the SEIU statement on the law:

The law would enable workers who do not get paid sick days from their employers to earn minimum of 1 hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.  Eligible workers would get a maximum of five days per year.

In Westchester, more than 120,000 workers – many in the food service and student transportation industries – are compelled to go to work when sick because they otherwise will have their pay docked. That means contagious illnesses are being spread throughout our communities because sick workers are not being afforded the ability to take care of themselves, or a loved one, at home.

“With a large proportion of low-wage earning employees in Westchester County having no paid sick time, these workers simply report to work ill because they cannot afford to miss even a single day of work” Joe Mayhew, a member of the Employer Paid Sick Leave Coalition, said.  “This puts Westchester residents at risk for noroviruses that can have deadly consequences to the young and elderly; yet, we can make Westchester healthier for its workers, customers and the community by supporting Catherine Borgia’s legislation that would require employers with 5 or more employees to provide Employer Paid Sick Time”

REACTION TO SUPREME COURT DECISION ON ARBITRATION.

Reacting to another labor matter affecting union and workers’ rights — the Monday decision on arbitration by the Supreme Court — Hector Figueroa, President of the SEIU 32BJ issued this statement:

“The Supreme Court decision is an assault on the overwhelming majority of working people who will now be forced to sign away some of their rights in order to work. This decision gives a major victory to unscrupulous corporations who wish to further rig the system against working people. By making it as difficult as possible for employers to be accountable for wage theft, discrimination and pay inequity, the Supreme Court is sending a message that the rights of corporations matter more than those of working people.

“As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg noted in the dissent, ‘there is strength in numbers’ and any attempt to dismantle that strength will harm vulnerable workers. Employees should not have to sign away their rights to have a job. It is now up to Congress to act to stop this egregious decision from harming millions of Americans.”

La 32BJ SEIU sobre LA DECISIÓN de la CORTE SUPREMA sobre ACCIÓN JUDICIAL COLECTIVA y ARBITRAJE

“Esta decisión de la Corte Suprema es un asalto a la vasta mayoría de la gente trabajadora que ahora se verá forzada a renunciar a algunos de sus derechos con el fin de tener empleo. Esta decisión le otorga una gran victoria a las inescrupulosas corporaciones que desean manipular aún más el sistema en contra de la gente trabajadora. Al impedir lo más posible que los empleadores se hagan responsables por los hurtos de salarios, la discriminación y la desigualdad de salarios, la Corte Suprema está enviando un claro mensaje que los derechos de las corporaciones importan más que los de la gente trabajadora.

“Como indicó la Jueza Ruth Bader Ginsberg en su opinión contraria, ‘hay poder en los números’ y todo intento de desmantelar ese poder perjudicará a trabajadores vulnerables. Los empleados no tienen porqué renunciar a sus derechos para tener un empleo. Le corresponde ahora al Congreso intervenir para evitar que tan ignominioso veredicto perjudique a millones de americanos.”