“I don’t have any paid sick leave,” says long-time Parent Voices member and mom Kathleen Martínez. “It’s very hard to (decide) whether you leave your child home sick and go to work, or stay home with your child and not get paid.” So when Parent Voices launched a statewide campaign for paid sick leave, she “was motivated to (take) part. I want to help myself and other parents like me.”

Martínez is a mom in Antioch to three children—Crystal, 24, Dawn, 18, and Alexias, 12—and also cares for her mother and grandmother. Though she works two jobs, she says “I don’t get paid if I have to take time off to care for sick family members. But if my grandmother, mother, or daughter is sick, I really have no choice. (With) one of my jobs I also get negative points for missing work”—and she could be fired for getting too many, she adds.

Campaign for paid sick leave

In February 2007, San Francisco passed a law requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees who work in San Francisco. Now Parent Voices is working with the Work and Family Coalition to expand this legislation statewide.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma recently introduced legislation that would give California workers paid sick leave (see Children's Advocate Roundtable). Employees would get an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work—and could use this time when they or a family member is sick, or to recover from sexual assault or domestic violence.

Martínez spoke out about her experiences at a related press conference. “I was speaking for all the mothers and fathers who couldn’t make it there that day,” she says. “If parents had paid sick leave, they wouldn’t be under pressure about what to do when their child is sick. I was a little bit nervous at the press conference,” she adds, “but I love to speak out.”

Stand for Children Day

On May 7, join hundreds of parents from around California and rally in Sacramento for more subsidized child care funds so that more families on the child care waiting list can get child care (see Hot topics: “We are speaking up”). For info, contact Candy Duperrior or Kimberly Quintana, 925-778-5437.

Parent Voices contacts:

Statewide: Mary Ignatius, 415-882-0234. mignatius@rrnetwork.org
Alameda (Hayward): Jennifer Greppi, 510-584-3115, jenniferf@4c-alameda.org
Alameda (Oakland): Janet Zamudio, 510-658-7353, janet@bananasinc.org
Amador: Brenda Bullington, 209-223-1624, ext. 109, Brenda@hrcccr.org
Butte: Jane Haberman, 530-895-1677, jhaberman@valleyoakchildren.org
Calaveras: Cheryl Berg, 209-754-1075, ext. 115, cberg@hrcccr.org
Contra Costa: Candy Duperroir, 925-778-4739, candy@cocokids.org
El-Dorado: Heather Della Ripa, 530-541-5848, hscfcslt@pacbell.net
Fresno: Lourdes Hernandez, 559-456-1100, louh@cvcsn.org
Los Ángeles: Christine Giron, 323-421-2602, cgiron@crystalstairs.org
Marin: Leah Benz, 415-491-5776, leah@mc3.org
Sacramento: Rachel Minnick, 916-369-3387, Rachel.Minnick@childaction.org
San Francisco: Maria Luz Torre, 415-343-3383, parentvoices@childrenscouncil.org
San Mateo: Nelly Puhachevsky, 650-655-6770, ext. 283, nelly@sanmateo4cs.org
Santa Barbara: contact statewide organizers
Santa Clara: Mario Del Castillo, 408-487-0747, mariod@4c.org
Solano: Kathy Lago, 707-864-4620,
klago@solanosfcs.org
Sonoma: Lorie Siebler, 707-522-1413, lsiebler@sonoma4cs.org