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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories More mental health care services bring peace of mind Medford police trained how to better respond to mentally ill Since You Asked: Stop smoking class included in drug treatment Emergency services Smoked salmon event at Britt draws hundreds Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services Hit-and-run on Highway 62 leaves man in critical condition Emergency services Central Point police make arrest in assault with pipe California man sentenced for gun trafficking Politics and Elections Falls: Jackson County sheriff's race isn't over Former sheriff calls Winters' retirement decision 'very wise' Will 'GMO effect' shape election? Dotterrer-Bates Senate race goes negative? 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Guest Opinion: Measure 91 will snuff out local tax measures ... More mental health care services bring peace of mind ... Guest Opinion: Who's to blame for 2014 wildfires? ... Guest Opinion: Measure 91 will snuff out local tax measures ... More mental health care services bring peace of mind ... OUR VIEW Paid sick leave for all is long overdue MailTribune.com Writer Posted Sep. 17, 2014 @ 12:01 am Posted Sep. 17, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News A coalition of activist organizations seeking to boost the minimum wage and require paid sick days for all workers has a better shot at the second goal, at least in Oregon. Whether you believe the minimum wage in this state is adequate — and there is plenty of evidence that it is not — Oregon's minimum is the second highest in the country, behind only Washington. A push to raise Oregon's even higher is unlikely to gain much traction. Powerful interests are arrayed against raising the minimum wage, and one of Oregon's strongest lobby groups, the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, is even pushing to remove the link between the state minimum and the inflation rate. The argument that minimum-wage workers are teenagers living with their parents who don't depend on the pay for their livelihood rings hollow when you realize that the average age of minimum-wage workers is 35, and 88 percent are at least 20. Half are older than 30. A third are older than 40. The New York Times reports that this is relatively new, based on statistics from the Center for Economic Policy Research. In 1979, 27 percent of workers making $10.10 per hour or less in today’s dollars were teenagers. In 2013, only 12 percent were. Accepting for the moment that a higher minimum wage is not likely to happen in Oregon anytime soon, paid sick leave is long overdue.  Sick leave is a cause the restaurant industry ought to embrace, not only because it's the right thing to do, but also to protect its paying customers. Workers who do not have paid sick time frequently must choose between working while sick and paying rent, and in many cases can risk losing their job entirely if they call in sick. Have you ever marveled at how quickly the latest cold virus makes the rounds? Chances are, you picked it up from the worker who handed you your burger at the local fast-food joint or waited on you at your favorite restaurant. There's no way to prove that, of course. But limiting contact with sick people is the best way to stay healthy, which it's hard to do that when so many people are forced to go to work serving the public when they're under the weather. Your kids may have brought home that latest cough and fever from a classmate who had to go to school sick because his mom could not afford to miss work to stay home with him. Some local jurisdictions have begun enacting paid sick leave laws, most recently in Eugene, where a new law takes effect next July. The Restaurant and Lodging Association opposed that law, saying it did not want to see a patchwork of local rules. In that case, the industry ought to support a statewide law to provide consistency. We'll be watching to see if it does. 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