The people in red shirts are members of the Southern Maine Workers' Center, who are pushing for a paid sick leave ordinance partly because it brings “dignity to Portland workers.”
A couple dozen supporters came out to a rally in favor of a paid sick leave ordinance in Portland last Tuesday. Inside the City Council Chambers, where a public comment session was held, support and opposition for the ordinance was split 50/50.
John Ochira, the chairman of the South Sudanese Community Association of Maine, said that his community is disprotionately affected by this issue, because immigrants tend to work jobs without paid sick leave options.
Patrick Roche, owner of Think Tank Co-Working, said that if Portland wants to live up to its “progressive ethos” then it should allow all its workers to earn paid sick time.
Councilors Brian Batson and Belinda Ray of the Health and Human Services Committee listening to public comments on the paid sick leave ordinance last Tuesday.
The people in red shirts are members of the Southern Maine Workers' Center, who are pushing for a paid sick leave ordinance partly because it brings “dignity to Portland workers.”
A couple dozen supporters came out to a rally in favor of a paid sick leave ordinance in Portland last Tuesday. Inside the City Council Chambers, where a public comment session was held, support and opposition for the ordinance was split 50/50.
Councilors Brian Batson and Belinda Ray of the Health and Human Services Committee listening to public comments on the paid sick leave ordinance last Tuesday.
Eliza Townsend, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby, called the proposed paid sick leave ordinance “socially just.”
Dozens of labor activists held a rally in front of Portland City Hall Tuesday ahead of the first public hearing for a proposal that would require employers in the city to provide earned paid sick time to employees.
The proposal, backed by Mayor Ethan Strimling and written by the Maine Women’s Lobby and the Southern Maine Workers Center, was introduced last fall during a rally that was attended by several hundred people. Activists marked this rally as an important milestone in their campaign, because it preceded the first chance for the general public to testify before the Health and Human Services Committee, consisting of City Councilors Pious Ali, Brian Batson, and Belinda Ray.
John Ochira, the chairman of the South Sudanese Community Association of Maine, said that his community is disprotionately affected by this issue, because immigrants tend to work jobs without paid sick leave options.
Patrick Roche, owner of Think Tank Co-Working, said that if Portland wants to live up to its “progressive ethos” then it should allow all its workers to earn paid sick time.
