WHEREAS:
The United States lags behind much of the world in its provision of basic and essential paid leave benefits that would allow workers to take time off for illness or to care for new children or ill relatives; and
WHEREAS:
Though the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for their own serious health condition or to care for a new child or ill family member, only about half of employees are eligible due to its strict requirements, and most workers simply cannot afford to take unpaid leave; and
WHEREAS:
Even though, as of 2026, 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed paid sick time laws, three others have passed general paid time off laws and 14 states and the District of Columbia have created state-based paid family and medical leave programs, the patchwork of state and local leave provisions still leaves too many workers across the country without adequate, job-protected leave; and
WHEREAS:
Substantial evidence shows the benefits of paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for families when it comes to income and job stability as well as the health and wellbeing of workers and their families; and
WHEREAS:
The Trump administration’s attacks on working families — including funding cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP in H.R. 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act; disruptions of child care subsidy programs and its disproportionate targeting of our immigrant child care workforce and restrictions on reproductive rights following the Supreme Court’s outrageous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022 — threaten to increase child poverty and maternal and infant mortality while forcing more women out of the workforce to care for themselves and their families; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME Council 5 and many other AFSCME affiliates have led the way in our communities and in the halls of power to invest in paid family and medical leave and earned sick and safe time campaigns that led to their successful passage into law, and our union members have already been able to access this critical paid leave; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has long supported and affirmed in its convention resolutions the expansion of paid sick leave and paid parental leave, such as “Paid Parental and Sick Leave,” 42nd International Convention Resolution No. 31 (2016), as well as the right to reproductive autonomy for working people, including “Reproductive Rights,” 46th International Convention Resolution No. 40 (2024).
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME and its affiliates will continue to promote and support efforts to establish federally mandated paid leave benefits including paid sick leave and paid parental leave; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME and its affiliates will work to create, expand and secure dedicated funding for state and local paid leave programs as well as other programs like long-term care insurance that ensure all workers are able to access job-protected leave; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
AFSCME and its affiliates will continue to bargain for strong paid leave provisions as well as other provisions allowing flexible or family-friendly work arrangements that protect AFSCME members’ jobs while allowing them to care for themselves and their families.
SUBMITTED BY:
Eric Hesse, President and Delegate
Louis McNutt, Secretary and Delegate
AFSCME Council 5
Minnesota