Thread by @RetroReport

1/6 Delivery, grocery store and other gig workers w/little choice but to work during the #COVID19pandemic are protesting the lack of safety measures and benefits, including paid sick leave. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, sick days were also making headlines. #LessonsFromHistory

2/6 In 2009, as the swine flu spread into a global pandemic, some public health experts warned that workers without paid sick days would go into work because they couldn’t afford to jeopardize their work or lose a day's pay, and spread the disease to others.

3/6 A study from the peak months of the pandemic in the US concluded that 7 million people might have contracted the disease because sick colleagues went to work instead of staying home.

4/6 A February 2020 study showed a drop in influenza-like illnesses of 11 percent a year after paid sick leave measures were put in place.

researchgate.net/publication/33…

5/6 In the past decade, in the absence of a federal law, dozens of cities and states have created sick pay mandates. The number of workers with benefits is rising, but low-wage workers still have less access to paid sick leave than higher-wage workers.
bls.gov/ncs/ebs/factsh…

6/6 Connecticut passed the first statewide sick pay mandate in 2011. While some business groups worried about the costs of the law, a 2014 study found that most employers cited no increased costs or only small increases.
cepr.net/documents/good…