Dear Friend,

Pop quiz: What's better than an apple a day?

Think for a minute...

Answer: Earned sick days. Moms know: Even an apple a day won’t keep the doctor away. And that’s why Philadelphians need earned sick days.

Next Thursday, May 12, MomsRising will deliver “apple-o-grams” to every member of the Philadelphia City Council along with personal stories and notes from MomsRising members like you about the importance of earned sick days.

*Can you add your short note now that we'll deliver on an apple-o-gram on Thursday? http://action.momsrising.org/sign/psd_philly_apple/?source=taf

Not sure what to write? Short notes from you like the following would be very helpful right now: “I don’t know what I’d do without earned sick days,” “If I had earned sick days, then it would make a big difference because I could stay home when I (or my child) was sick,” or “Please pass earned sick days so people don’t send their kids to school sick.”

What’s happening now in Philly?

The earned sick days bill passed out of a City Council Committee unanimously in March and is likely headed for a vote by the entire City Council in the next few weeks. Your notes are key to making sure that City Council members know parents and care takers across Philadelphia support this commonsense policy.

We want to make sure that every member of City Council knows how important earned sick days are to families who live and work in Philadelphia. That’s why we’re planning to be at City Hall next Thursday to hand out our apple-o-gram messages to Council Members and urge them to support the earned sick days bill.

We need to make sure our families’ voices are louder than any pin-stripe-suited lobbyist!

*Add your quick note now to our apple-o-grams and we’ll make sure it gets hand delivered next week! http://action.momsrising.org/sign/psd_philly_apple/?source=taf

We're so close to passing this bill. And now we need to pump up the volume to push it through to the finish line. We can do that by putting a real face on the issue and showing members of City Council how earned sick time, or a LACK of earned sick time is impacting Philadelphia families.

Did you know that two out of five Philadelphia employees are not allowed by their employers to earn paid sick days? [1] That means they often have to choose between going to work sick, and losing a day’s pay (and possibly their jobs) if they stay home sick or with sick kids.

This is a big problem – when sick folks aren’t able to stay home, it puts everyone’s health at risk – coworkers, restaurant patrons, school kids, and, well, everyone. Allowing workers with contagious diseases to avoid unnecessary contact with co-workers and customers is a fundamental public health measure. Our laws are clearly out of sync with responsible public health practices.

Earned sick days are good for working families, for public health, and for business. Earned sick days would help contain health care costs through prevention, early detection, and treatment of illness. With earned sick days, families will not be forced to send sick children to school where they will likely infect classmates and teachers; workers with earned sick days would not spread illness to their coworkers and customers.

Providing earned sick days turns out to be smart business too because it increases employee morale, productivity at work and reduces costly turnover.

Everyone gets sick. When we’re worried about our kids’ health or our own health, we shouldn’t also have to worry if we’ll still have a job when we get better.

*Add your personal note to our apple-o-gram and we’ll hand deliver it next Thursday, May 12. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/psd_philly_apple/?source=taf

And please forward this email to your friends and family so they can share their experiences too!

Together, we are a powerful force for women and families!



P.S. Want to join us for the apple-o-gram delivery on Thursday, May 12? Email Ruth@MomsRising.org to RSVP!





[1] Amy Traub, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, “Paid Sick Time: Healthy for Philadelphia Workers and Businesses,” 2010