REMARKS IN SUPPORT OF OHIO HEALTHY FAMILIES ACT
Greg Coleridge, Director, Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
Akron Labor Council, Akron, Ohio
October 24, 2007

I share these few reflections this morning not as a political activist or a policy expert…but as a person of faith. Many people of faith are supporting the enactment of the Ohio Healthy Families Act.

The faith community most often think in terms of values…moral values, ethical values, and family values. The reasons Ohio needs the Healthy Families Act are all about those values.

First, it’s FAIR. Everyone gets sick…and it’s simply not fair for people to lose their jobs or their paychecks if they occasionally miss work because illness strikes them or their families. Moreover, everyone knows that corporate executives and politicians get paid days off when they’re sick. It’s only fair that average people and middle class workers receive the same benefit.

Second, letting workers earn paid sick days is REASONABLE. Every other industrialized nation – including the 20 most economically competitive – has paid sick days. Why not Ohio workers? Some people oppose the HFA because they’re afraid workers will cheat – and stay home even when they’re not sick. Frankly, I believe that claim is insulting to Ohioans – and doesn’t square with the facts.  Studies show that most workers who DO have paid sick days don’t use all of them – and that 50% of those with paid sick time don’t miss a single day of work in a typical year. Nevertheless, its important to have paid sick days there if you need them – and the HFA also includes reasonable protections against abuse, like allowing employers to ask for a doctor’s note if a worker misses work for 3 consecutive days.

Finally, the act VALUES FAMILIES. Babies and children, for example, need regular doctor’s visits and preventive care check-ups. Paid sick days would help Ohio parents meet those needs. Similarly, parents should not be asked or feel pressured to leave school-age kids home alone when they get sick – or be temped to lie to their employers or make up stories about why they can’t come in to work when the truth is that they need to stay home with their ill children.

And what about taking time off work occasionally to take care of aging parents who get sick – or helping them get to doctor’s appointments or to receive necessary medical treatment? Whether we are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or adherents of any other faith, we are all commanded to “honor our fathers and mothers.” Enacting the Healthy Families Act is one way of helping us do that.

In sum, paid sick days would make Ohio a healthier, more family-friendly, and humane state. But even more important, giving hard-working Ohioans the change to earn paid sick days and to take care of their families is not just good public policy – It’s simply the right thing to do.

And that’s why I and so many other people of faith support the Ohio Healthy Families Act.