Advancement for workers

Re: “Businesses fret over paid leave law,” Nov. 7 news story

Every social movement and effort to improve lives of workers has been opposed by special interests — companies and capitalists trying to preserve the status quo for their own benefit. It hasn’t been very long since people were working 12 hours a day in sweatshops for wages that were barely sufficient to support families.

It took all of the 20th century to make advancements in working conditions, reasonable hours, job safety, time off for illness and childbirth, child labor laws, compensation for injuries, Social Security, minimum wage — all gained with sacrifices and all made in the face of opposition by the owner class, capitalists who cried “foul,” “socialism,” “closing of business,” etc. And all the while, the improvements for workers led to a better economy, increases in business, more productive workplaces, and a more equitable society.

Now the complaints are about COVID- 19. The fact is that the paid leave law in Colorado won’t take effect until 2023. That gives us two years to deal with the virus before tax burdens of the law kick in. If the virus persists, we have time to make adjustments. The message to business is this: “stop whining and help improve the lives of our workers.”

Stop making socialism the bogyman. The fact is that our democratic values will sustain us even as we adopt more aspects of socialism to improve capitalism. Our patriotic duty is to improve our country and we can do so by improving the lot of working families without losing any business.

Walter Heidenfelder, Denver