To help workers now and after the pandemic, give them paid leave to care for their families
As Congress turns its sights from the rescue plan to the recovery package, experts from across the spectrum are chiming in. Economists and lawyers and political scientists are making arguments about what’s advisable and what’s allowable. Lobbyists are weighing in on what large corporations want. Conservatives are warning of doing too much to help people.
Who is missing? Front-line workers like us trying to survive under this pandemic and wondering how our families will get back on our feet. We have a firsthand, boots on the ground view of what we need not just to get by, but to stop the virus and create real, inclusive economic recovery.
We’re part of a national campaign for paid leave. The workers in our group experience the gamut of problems employees face when there are no workplace protections: Getting fired after falling ill. Having a baby with no paid leave. Going back to work too soon in order to put food on the table. Without protections, too many of us are forced to decide between essentials: no lights or no phone; no car or no groceries; hold off on the rent or go without heat?
The rescue package that is now law includes tax credits for employers who voluntarily offer paid leave to workers dealing with virus-related care needs. That will help. But voluntary efforts alone exclude tens of millions of employees. And that won’t touch all the other reasons people need affordable time to care — to welcome a new child, deal with a serious personal illness or injury, or care for a seriously ill loved one.
We know the nation can’t recover if people lose a job or income for following doctor’s orders or being there for a loved one. When workers suffer, so do small businesses. They depend on us as customers. When we’re broke, we can’t buy, and they can’t keep up their payroll. As we’ve seen over the last year, often that means they shutter their doors, contributing to a vicious cycle of further unemployment.
We want to ensure the recovery package Congress passes is meaningful and effective. To Build Back Better, we need permanent, inclusive paid leave for all. Because while the pandemic has exacerbated these issues, they are not new. We remember what it was like before the pandemic to lose a job or paycheck because we or a loved one needs care. We know the high cost pre-coronavirus of having to work while sick.
Some senators are claiming they won’t work with the administration on a recovery plan unless you cut and slash, leave out this, give up that. Here’s what they’re really saying: People like us, workers who are the lifeblood of the American economy, don’t matter. We should keep slogging along without resources following a crisis we didn’t cause but that is affecting every aspect of our lives. And when the pandemic is over, we’ll have to keep making choices between providing for and caring for our loved ones.
But don’t take it just from us. Paid leave is the top policy voters named in polls last fall to help stop the pandemic and rebuild the economy. Paid time to quarantine or heal reduced the COVID curve and saved lives. We know it saves jobs and keeps caregivers in the workforce, which is especially important when so many women, especially women of color, have lost employment. It adds revenue from people able to pay taxes and cuts costs by driving fewer people to need public assistance. It makes the system fair for all.
We know a lot about budgets, having to perform miracles every day to pay our bills. We also know a lot about hypocrisy. The recovery plan may wind up going through a budget reconciliation process. The people crying foul about this mechanism turned to that very process four years ago to shove through huge tax cuts for the rich.
We have to ask them: Is the problem spending money, or spending money on everyday people rather than on the wealthy?
On behalf of the millions of workers in our same, sinking boat, we urge our elected leaders to listen to experts like us. Invest in us for meaningful recovery. Include permanent, effective paid leave. Our nation’s health and future depends on it.