Sick-leave stats needed to truly analyze issue
IT GETS tiresome reading accusations from the Catholic Church, Equality New Mexico and the New Mexico (Working Families) Party, and others that those of us who may disagree with their positions on current issues are the moral equivalent of pond scum — racist, greedy, uncaring bullies who are happy with a divided city, etc. Decidedly not so.
Take sick leave, for example. We might find more common ground if these organizations — and, for that matter, the Albuquerque Journal — would tell us how many employers in Albuquerque do not offer any kind of sick leave now? Are they all small businesses? Will most be exempted from a new sick leave ordinance? Will there be any exemption for small businesses? How will “small” in this context be defined?
What is the source of the assertion by Carver and Griego in their (May 14) oped that more than 100,000 employees in Albuquerque have to work sick or lose a day’s pay? Are these full-time employees, part-time employees, or both? How many employers do these 100,000 represent? How many of the 100,000 are represented by unions and covered by collective bargaining agreements?
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in March 2018 Albuquerque had 410,300 people employed across a wide range of categories, including government, education, health, trade, utilities, finance, construction and others. Do nearly 25 percent of these people really work with no provisions for sick leave at all? Perhaps, but I’d be much more inclined to accept that statistic if I knew the source and the number of employers it represents.
Large employers in Albuquerque — local, state and federal governments; educational institutions; health-care providers; (and) public utilities, for example, have paid sick leave benefits of some kind. We would like to think that the intent of any local ordinance is not to force these employers to change whatever policies they already have in place, especially since they do not represent any part of the 100,000 with no coverage as asserted by Carver and Griego.
And, have we done enough homework to (en)sure that people included in the 100,000 who may be working for startup and innovating companies of the kind Albuquerque wants to attract and nurture or other local entrepreneurs, franchisees and very small businesses, ... won’t be faced with reduced hours or loss of employment if a poorly conceived sick leave ordinance is enacted?
Many voters would probably be far more comfortable if they had reason to believe that their elected representatives were seeking answers to these kinds of questions before they vote on any proposed ordinance. The Albuquerque Journal might be able to help make this happen. JO ANN MILAM
Albuquerque