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SHARE Organizers Jihelah, Eve, and Dylan collected signatures outside the White City Trader Joe’s this week! |
This Fall, some SHARE organizers have been supporting the
Raise Up coalition to bring two questions to the public on election day
2018. We have been working on gathering the number of signatures required to
get a $15 minimum wage (phased in slowly over four years) and paid
family/medical leave on the ballot next year so that we, as citizens of
Massachusetts, can decide if we want these changes in our state.
Raise Up is a group of unions, churches, and small community
organizations from across the state who are committed to positive changes for
working families here in Massachusetts.
At SHARE, we see how valuable these changes would be for our
members, and for all working people in MA. Many SHARE members have family and
dependents at home who make the minimum wage. We believe that everyone deserves
the ability to support themselves and their family, and right now, working 40
hours a week for the current $11 minimum wage just isn’t cutting it. And we
know that a raise in the minimum wage helps to support solid raises for SHARE
members when we negotiate with hospital management.
The Paid Family/Medical Leave proposal is also a better deal
for working families. That proposal would provide up to 26 weeks of
job-protected medical leave at 90% of pay if an employee is sick, and up to 16
weeks of job-protected family leave at 90% of pay if they have to care for
a family member or have a new baby at home. A higher standard would help SHARE as
we negotiate leaves-of-absence in our own contract in the future.
Some of our SHARE reps have been volunteering their time to
collect signatures so that we will have the chance to vote on these two
important issues next fall. If you are interested in joining that effort, or if
you have questions about these two initiatives, please email eve.feldberg@theshareunion.org or
call/text (617) 620-4091.