Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Bill Introduced

House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller is pushing a bill to require employers to grant paid sick leave if they ask workers with the H1N1 flu or other contagious illness to stay home from work. Miller says 50 million Americans have no paid sick leave, particularly in the food service and hospitality industries, and that these workers are the most likely to face employer requirements to stay away from work if they get sick. Employees, Miller insists, should not have to choose between their paychecks and the health of coworkers and customers.

The bill applies to all businesses with 15 or more employees, but exempts any business already providing at least five days of paid sick leave to workers. Miller plans to hold a hearing on the bill this month, and bring it to the floor for a quick vote before the flu season gets info full swing.

Card Check Dropped From Employee Free Choice Act

Bowing to pressure from moderate members of their own party, Democratic Senate leaders have dropped the card check provision from the Employee Free Choice Act, in favor of alternative provisions shortening the time period for secret ballot elections which will still be required before a business can be forced to bargain with a union acting on behalf of its employees. This is a major defeat for big labor at the hands of senators from right to work states seeking to preserve the secret ballot rights of all workers employed by companies which are the subject of union organizing campaigns, and frees each voting employee from pressure by either union organizers or company executives who would otherwise know the individual worker's vote on the question of union representation.

It appears the bill is likely to pass now that it has been gutted of its most controversial provision, and its passage will signal renewed union organizing campaigns in the construction industry in right to work states in particular. The effect on construction businesses in those states where union membership is already required for construction tradespeople will be minimal. You probably already know which category your own home state falls into.