State Mandated Sick Days - Make me Sick!

First I want to state - I am a very pro-union conservative and have always been considered a 'friend of labor'. In the past, as a conservative candidate, I have also had the endorsements of local and statewide unions.

Here in Bedford, our unionized city workers know who to call if they have a problem with management in our city. I have been at many council meetings and council workshops, as a resident, speaking out on behalf of our city workers. This has ranged from job loss through attrition or trying to implement new rules, not consistent with the union contract.

My father, being a policemen, was in the union for over 25 years. I can also say that at a young age, I was intimately exposed to politics and unions by a man who was a union organizer for the Steel Workers and was one of the three founding members of S/E Area COPE. For those that are unaware, S/E Area Cope was the scanning committee on political endorsements for the AFL/CIO in Cuyahoga County.

That being said - the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is trying to stir up support to make a law which will FORCE ALL EMPLOYERS, with 25 employees or more, to give 7 days for paid sick time.

From Ohio News Now -

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- One of the state's major unions is pursuing a proposal that would require companies to grant sick days, an issue that could wind up on the November 2008 ballot and help drive voter turnout for the Democratic nominee for president.

The measure, being pushed by Service Employees International Union District 1199, would require Ohio companies with at least 25 employees to grant at least seven sick days a year.

The union, which represents 28,000 health care and social service workers in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, submitted a petition with 1,800 signatures to Attorney General Marc Dann earlier this month....

--- I believe getting paid sick days is a benefit, not a right. I believe many companies base their sick day policy on if an employee is full time or part time and length of employment.

The negative residual effect this short sighted effort would have on business, employment and costs passed on to the consumer would be far reaching......

The article continues with.....

"Workers should not have to choose between a paycheck and recovery when they get sick," the union said in a statement. The SEIU said 48 percent of workers for private employers and 79 percent of what it called low-wage workers have no sick days.

The proposal is unnecessary because companies may already offer more money or vacation days instead of seven sick days, said Ty Pine, legislative director for the National Federation of Independent Business of Ohio.

"When you do these types of one-size-fits-all mindless petitions that sound good to the voters, you remove all that flexibility not just for employers but for employees who are looking for different options in the workplace," Pine said. More....

State mandated sick days strikes to close to the heart of Free Enterprise for me.

This sounds more like a step towards Totalitarianism and/or Communism!