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April 26, 2012
The Case for Earned Sick Time
As business owners, women want to offer good benefits, but they are often at an unfair disadvantage without a minimum standard in place. When they do decide to offer fair wages and benefits, they run the risk of being undercut by the competition. The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce strongly and enthusiastically endorses the earned sick time legislation because it supports small businesses, benefits workers and encourages an equitable workplace for women across the Commonwealth.
April, 25, 2012
Dunkin' Donuts Protest Calls for Sick Days
NEW BEDFORD — A dozen protesters clad in bright orange T-shirts marched and chanted in front of Dunkin' Donuts on Kempton Street today, calling for that corporation and others to provide workers with earned sick time.
April 2, 2012
Mass. Needs Sick Leave Mandate
For the nearly 1 million Massachusetts workers and their families, proper health care is largely out of reach. That's because they don't have basic, paid sick days - and it means higher costs for them, their employers and our communities.

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Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Sell Workers Short

A report by Stephanie Luce, City University of New York (CUNY Murphy Institute) and Naoki Fujita, Retail Action Project:

Retail is one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States and a core part of the New York City economy. This study, conducted in the fall of 2011, sought to track the wages and working conditions of frontline non-managerial workers in New York’s booming retail industry. We interviewed workers employed at non-union large stores and national chains from high-end 5th Avenue fashion to off-brand clothing retailers on Fordham Road in the Bronx. Because New York is the retail capital of the United States, and the majority of respondents worked in stores with a national presence, this study paints a portrait of the practices and conditions experienced by retail workers across the country.

Responses from the 436 workers surveyed debunk myths surrounding the industry that boasts about putting America back to work. This report provides insight into the workers and families who are trying to survive on low-wage retail work – showing that race and gender matter a great deal when it comes to how much workers earn per hour, how likely they are to be promoted along a career path, and how likely they are to have benefits such as health insurance or paid sick days.

Read the whole report here: Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Sell Workers Short