| Grassroots groups stir the pot of human understanding. | | | | Organizations are on board to promote social change |
| They fuel the awareness about why forty percent or | | | | legislation for paid sick leave. One such organization |
| more of hourly workers nationally are left outside the | | | | whose national office is in Denver, Colorado is 9-5 |
| door of paid sick leave. Social change cannot occur | | | | Women which is part of a broad national network |
| without the inclusion of the disempowered workers | | | | pushing for country-wide paid sick leave relief. Value |
| who people the realms of the disposable employees | | | | Families at Work includes this description of 9-5's |
| are who are cast aside when illness overcomes the | | | | effort at broad-based reform. |
| will to work. | | | | In Colorado, 9 to 5 has built a work-family coalition that |
| Collectively, we as a society are no more powerful | | | | is engaged in grassroots organizing, media outreach, |
| than the weakest among us. Some studies show that | | | | and building support for public education and state |
| more than sixty percent of Americans workers | | | | policy efforts to provide time off work to parents to |
| receive paid sick leave. These of course are the | | | | attend children's school activities; and to guarantee |
| workers who people the union roles or the ranks of | | | | workers paid sick days. The coalition also works to |
| the salaried employees. The forty percent or more in | | | | bring Colorado voices into national efforts to protect |
| the ranks of the unpaid sick days remain dependent | | | | and expand FMLA, win paid sick days, and to include |
| on grassroots advocacy groups such as 9-5 Women, | | | | work-family issues in local community benefits |
| Acorn, Citizen's Project, and Youth United for Work, | | | | campaigns. Colorado is powerfully positioned in view of |
| JwJ as well as numerous other in the trenches | | | | its recent victory over the Ward Connerly funded |
| organizations across the United States. | | | | initiative to undermine civil rights. |
| This state by state organizing is interminably slow with | | | | Acorn is another imminent grassroots organizer. Acorn |
| paid medical leave advances most prominently | | | | boasts an extensive national network infrastructure. |
| displayed in San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Washington | | | | With a posted membership of 400,000; the |
| D.C. In the case of Youth United in San Francisco, | | | | organization identifies 116 chapters through out the |
| California, does regional culture influence the paid sick | | | | United States. The Wall Street Journal included this |
| leave legislation which occurred? This legislative | | | | information about the work of Acorn. |
| change is born in a state with a historic tendency to | | | | Since 1970, ACORN has been building community |
| support paid leave for its workers. On a national state | | | | organizations that are committed to social and |
| ranking system, California is among the most highly | | | | economic justice, and won victories on thousands of |
| ranked and graded at B with no state earning an A. | | | | issues of concern to our members, through direct |
| The ranking results from the quantity of paid leave | | | | action, negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter |
| allocated to workers. States such as Colorado rank at | | | | participation. ACORN helps those who have historically |
| the C/D level due to the dearth of medical leave policy | | | | been locked out become powerful players in our |
| to democratize paid sick leave. Now, the city by city | | | | democratic system. |
| approach to change is moving to a country-wide | | | | With grass roots leaders at work, opponents of paid |
| effort to support the health initiative lead by Senator | | | | sick leave may have their hands more than full. The |
| Kennedy. | | | | controversial effort continues. |