Together, we won paid sick time in St. Paul

Driven by the leadership of workers and their families, we were part of an incredible coalition that won paid sick time for more than 72,000 workers in Saint Paul! Now, all workers will be able to have up to 6 days of paid sick and safe time. And you know what, every single business will need to offer this for their workers  –  no exceptions.

As a black woman that’s helped lead this campaign and who comes from a low-income community that too often lacks access to paid sick time, this means so much to me. And I know I’m not alone. Because of this, I want to let you know how this win was possible.

Towards the end of our long and hard fight for paid sick time in Minneapolis, we jumped into this campaign led by our partners at ISAIAH.

Driven by the leadership of workers, and alongside a powerful coalition of partners like –  ISAIAH, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC), Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL) and many others – we worked hard to ensure that the Saint Paul City Council recognize the crisis that many, many workers in their city are living in without paid sick time.

A taskforce for paid sick time was formed in March made up of many key stakeholders: workers, small and big business owners, public health experts, health care providers, and other community leaders. Together, they worked for three months to put together a strong paid sick time policy. We organized community meeting with Councilmembers where TakeAction members explained why they support the ordinance.

Picture of Tolbert, Dai Thao, Stark (large and on its own)

Councilmembers Chris Tolbert, Dai Thao, and Council President Russ Stark, champions for paid sick time, supported the recommendations and we continued pushing for them.

The coalition packed hearing after hearing with workers, their families, small business owners and others to show the public support and people’s absolute need for it. And then, together, we made it so that now a second city in Minnesota has paid sick time. And we won’t stop there.

I want to make it clear that this wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the leadership of workers who’ve had to struggle day-in- and day-out without paid sick time. Workers who risked their jobs to organize others by choosing to bravely share their stories. Workers who are disproportionately people of color and women. We owe them a big thank you for putting this crisis front and center –  and winning real change.

And finally, none of this would’ve been possible without you. Thank you for standing up and making a difference. Together, we just showed that we can and will continue to win concrete victories for racial, gender, and economic justice.

Next step, we want to make paid sick time a reality in our entire state. Stay tuned for next steps on this fight.