Photo by Sarah Anne Hughes.
As the Council reconvened Tuesday with many hot button issues on the schedule (Wal-Mart, tax liens, censure), a much less controversial bill was introduced to mandate paid sick leave for restaurant workers.
The Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act of 2013, introduced Tuesday by Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), would expand on a 2008 bill that provided D.C. workers with between three and seven paid sick days a year. Under the new act, tipped restaurant workers would also be covered.
“All too often, an employee is sick because they didn’t get any sick leave, they have to go to work,” Barry said when introducing the bill. It was co-introudced, co-sponsored or supported by Council Chair Phil Mendelson, and Councilmembers Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), David Grosso (I-At Large), Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Anita Bonds (D-At Large) and Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5).
That leaves Councilmembers Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Vincent Orange (D-A Large) and David Catania (I-At Large). Catania, however, has proposed removing the restaurant worker exemption from the 2008 law in his minimum wage bill.
The bill’s introduction is the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by the Paid Sick Days for All Coalition, which has been educating the public about the need for tipped worker sick leave, sometimes, by dressing up like ill chefs.
Naomi Iser of the D.C. Employment Justice Center said the group was “really excited” that the bill was introduced “with so much support.”
“It’s a big day for the campaign, but we’ll keep on fighting,” she added.
Woong Chang, a bartender and member of the Coalition who was at the Wilson Building when the bill was introduced, said the moment brings about “mixed emotions of relief and a final sense of achievement.”
“At the same time, this is only the beginning of the battle,” Chang added.
Chang said he started to push for paid sick days for restaurant workers in 2009 after he had to go into work with what turned out to be swine flu. “I couldn’t afford not to go to work,” he said. “I came to realize … there’s a public health issue, obviously. This is not only a matter of personal welfare, but of public welfare.”
“It’s also an issue of, kind of a moral issue,” Change later added, saying that restaurant workers depend on tips to survive. “It’s incredibly difficult to take a day off.”
The bill has now been referred to the committee on Workforce and Community Affairs. Iser said the coalition would thank the Councilmembers who co-introudced or co-sponsored the bill and would meet with the ones who didn’t. Iser said she wasn’t aware of the reasons the other Councilmembers didn’t support the bill.
