The past week has been one of very little sleep and a whole bundle of stress. My young adult son was severely ill and we may have needed to hospitalize him. 

He missed four days of work—at the Chicago Public Library. 

What made this experience so strange is that he seemed more relaxed than me. I kept telling him to make sure he followed procedures and I worried that we would need to get a doctor’s note for him. I kept worrying that he would get written up like us.

It wasn’t necessary because he has Paid Sick Leave. His AFSCME Council 31 Collective Bargaining Agreement has no waivers for Paid Sick Leave: All of the members earn it on day one (Full-Time and Part-Time).

He simply called his manager each day and the hours he accumulated in his 1+ years as a Part-Time CPL employee were deducted.

• No lost wages.
• No “third-party administrator” to call.
• No doctor note.
• No write-up.
• No stressful Intermittent FMLA approvals. 

Just a simple phone call to his boss. No questions asked.

For us at the CTA—in union jobs—we are punished and tortured with procedures that discourage us from healing from illness in peace. We are punished for getting sick.

By the way, my son is recovered and going back to work today.

Please share this petition and encourage coworkers to sign it. We need Paid Sick Leave now.