City Hall
Chamber: Paid Sick Leave Will Kill Seattle Jobs
As we reported in Fizz this morning, a forum on a proposed paid sick leave ordinance sponsored by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce (along with other local chambers) last night was---despite being billed as "sold out"---was, in fact, half empty, with only about 60 of 120 seats filled. We asked Chamber VP George Allen why the group advertised the event as sold out when it clearly wasn't.
Allen's response:
"The room capacity was 120. We took registration for the free forum to make sure we wouldn’t exceed capacity and have to turn people away. With an issue as emotional as sick leave, turning people away from the forum would cause emotions to run even higher. With that, four days before the event we had 120 people registered so we stopped taking more. In the end we had 65 attendees check in at the registration table. Note, a few people double-booked slots and of the no-shows, some were businesses for sure (not sure of their leanings), others were from SAGE, and one woman who spoke in favor of the legislation registered an additional 14 guests that did not show up (14 of the 120 slots gone). Some may speculate about the impacts of the time and location of the event--I’m just grateful for all those who did take the time to show."
In a letter this afternoon, the Chamber and the Downtown Seattle Association argued that mandating paid sick leave now would harm job growth in Seattle and "preempt a positive dialogue about other options that allow employees to take paid time off to care for themselves or a loved one without causing financial hardship."
"We recognize the intense political pressure you are under to adopt this measure this summer and that a vote may be held in committee as soon as August 10. Yet this is too significant a policy decision to be rushed before careful review and investigation of the consequences – intended and otherwise – such actions will cause."
The city council's human services committee will discuss the paid sick leave ordinance this afternoon in city council chambers, 600 Fourth Ave., at about 2:45.
Allen's response:
"The room capacity was 120. We took registration for the free forum to make sure we wouldn’t exceed capacity and have to turn people away. With an issue as emotional as sick leave, turning people away from the forum would cause emotions to run even higher. With that, four days before the event we had 120 people registered so we stopped taking more. In the end we had 65 attendees check in at the registration table. Note, a few people double-booked slots and of the no-shows, some were businesses for sure (not sure of their leanings), others were from SAGE, and one woman who spoke in favor of the legislation registered an additional 14 guests that did not show up (14 of the 120 slots gone). Some may speculate about the impacts of the time and location of the event--I’m just grateful for all those who did take the time to show."
In a letter this afternoon, the Chamber and the Downtown Seattle Association argued that mandating paid sick leave now would harm job growth in Seattle and "preempt a positive dialogue about other options that allow employees to take paid time off to care for themselves or a loved one without causing financial hardship."
"We recognize the intense political pressure you are under to adopt this measure this summer and that a vote may be held in committee as soon as August 10. Yet this is too significant a policy decision to be rushed before careful review and investigation of the consequences – intended and otherwise – such actions will cause."
The city council's human services committee will discuss the paid sick leave ordinance this afternoon in city council chambers, 600 Fourth Ave., at about 2:45.
