PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Labor activists plan to use Labor Day to push for mandatory paid sick leave for all workers in Maine’s largest city.
The Southern Maine Workers’ Center said 200 workers, union members and activists will rally on Monday in Portland.
The group said many workers bring germs to work because they can’t get time off. They said immigrants, women and people of color are more likely to lack paid sick leave.
Activists plan to present an ordinance that would apply to Portland businesses at a September City Council meeting.
Democrats recently backed an unsuccessful bill to require Maine companies with more than 50 employees to offer up to 40 hours of paid sick time.
The Portland Press Herald reported Portland’s mayor has called paid sick days a “basic need” for workers.
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