ICYMI: TakeAction MN Applauds Earned Sick and Safe Time Moving Forward in Jobs Bill

St Paul, Minnesota — Late Friday night, the Jobs and Labor Conference committee included Earned Sick and Safe Time in their committee’s bill. TakeAction Minnesota applauds the members of the Jobs and Labor Committee who stood up to corporate interests and prioritized families and workers by including the Earned Sick & Safe Time policy in the Jobs Omnibus Bill.

“Working people kept their eye on the prize of winning Earned Sick and Safe Time for more than a decade, and they built the momentum needed to win this crucial, commonsense labor standard,” said Elianne Farhat, Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota. “We also wouldn’t be here without Representative Liz Olson’s tireless leadership on this issue, as well as Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, Senator Sandy Pappas, and other lawmakers who championed this policy and stood up to corporate interests that sought to undermine it. Thanks to workers, advocates, community leaders, and elected officials across Minnesota, every worker in our state will soon have more dignity, health, and safety at work.”

Earned Sick and Safe Time will allow workers to take time off to tend to their illnesses, care for a loved one, escape an unsafe situation, or recover from violence without fear of losing their job or income.

“Not all of us are fortunate enough to have family available to help us out in an emergency or a degree to help us get a high-paying job with benefits,” said Corinne Martin, a TakeAction Minnesota leader and Certified Nursing Assistant in training who lives in St. Louis Park. “A lot of single moms out there are just like me, trying to make it on our own with very little support. It’s hard to overstate how important this is. When Earned Sick and Safe Time is law, we won’t have to sacrifice our health to pay the rent.”