A proposed paid sick leave ordinance for city workers has the Madison City Council divided. Supporters of the proposal said the ordinance is a matter of workers rights, and opponents said they are protecting small business owners.
The proposal comes after the passage of other ordinances aimed at supporting local workers, including a citywide minimum wage and a comprehensive smoking ban.
In the proposal, for every 30 hours worked, an employee would earn one hour of paid sick leave. If the ordinance passes, paid sick leave would be one of the minimum requirements for businesses with more than five employees.
'I've learned that there are practical solutions to achieving economic equality, and minimum wage was one way and paid sick leave is the other,' Ald. Austin King, District 8, said.
According to King, lead sponsor of the ordinance, community organizations working with the homeless population approached King with concerns of homeless people who lost their jobs due to illnesses.
Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, said she supports the ordinance and that paid sick leave is part of the evolution of workers rights.
'If you ask businesses, they probably weren't supportive of the minimum wage, and long ago they probably weren't supportive of the 40-hour work week or child labor laws,' Webber said.
But Ald. Judy Compton, District 9, says that Webber's statement is 'extreme.'
'I have a Culver's in my district,' Compton, who opposes the ordinance, said, 'and a certain amount of their profit goes to feed the homeless. And they won't be able to do this anymore if the ordinance passes.'
Compton said people are misinformed if they believe that everyone who owns a business has 'deep pockets.' She said the ordinance might cause the city to lose the entrepreneurship of independent business-owners.
'I talked to a small business owner who has five employees, and he said that if the ordinance passes, at minimum he would have to let someone go,' said Ald. Paul Van Rooy, District 18, who also said he opposes the proposal.
Not all alders have decided their vote on the ordinance, however. Ald. Tim Gruber, District 11, said he sponsors the ordinance for purposes of discussion, but may not necessarily vote for it. According to Gruber, a lot of alders are 'on the fence' on the issue.
The final decision on the paid sick leave may come sometime in February. Until then, according to Webber, the coalition pushing sick leave will continue to urge constituents to contact their alder in swing districts.
