The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Flu Epidemic and Sick Time

Jan 19, 2015

As usual at this time of year, the U.S. is in the midst of a flu epidemic. By mid-January the CDC had reported 26 flu-related children’s deaths. Undoubtedly there will be more.

We all know flu spreads like wildfire. Yet it often happens that people feeling lousy with flu symptoms come into work. Why? Because they don’t get any sick leave at all, or because they have used up all their paid sick leave. Consider this fact: Unlike most Western industrialized countries, 40 million workers in the U.S. have no paid sick leave.

It is insane that in this rich country, all workers do not have access to an automatic paid sick leave policy for health crises!