About 20 activists picketed in front of a Baltimore Wendy’s today, calling for passage of paid sick leave legislation pending before the Maryland legislature.

“It’s not right that workers have to choose between a day of pay and caring for their sick children at home or recovering from their own illness,” said Matt Quinlan, leadership organizer for United Workers.

Under the provisions of the measure (HB 385/SB 40), workers would be able to earn up to seven paid sick days a year to recover from short-term illness, care for a sick family member, seek routine medical care or deal with the effects of domestic violence or sexual assault.

The measure would be mandatory for businesses with 10 employees or more, requiring them to offer workers an hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked – adding up to about seven days a year.

State workers, by comparison, have a formula that results in about 15 days of paid sick leave a year.

Opposition from Wendy’s

A coalition of family and worker advocacy groups has tried without success to push the legislation through the legislature for the last two years, said Stacey Mink, a spokeswoman for one member of the coalition, Maryland Working Families.

Quinlan, rallying the group of activists as the restaurant’s lunchtime crowd streamed in, said that DavCo Restaurants LLC, a franchisee representing 150 restaurants in the Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virgina area, has been a vocal opponent of the bill.

“Wendy’s is always right down there in Annapolis opposing this,” Quinlan said, as the activists waved signs that said, “Work with Dignity” and “Paid Sick Leave for All.”

A message left for executives of Crofton-based DavCo has not been returned.

“What do we want? Paid sick leave!” the group chanted as they circled the assembled near the sidewalk and handed leaflets to passersby.

No Paid Sick Leave Requirement

Following the passage of minimum wage legislation last year, the bills are a key focus of workers’ right groups in Maryland and nationally. (This is the issue that brought President Barack Obama to Charmington’s in January.)

The campaign this year for the legislation in Maryland, sponsored by 40th District Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, will be a test of the ability of the Democratic-led legislature to push through a perceived anti-business bill under a Republican governor.

For supporters, the stakes are high. Maryland does not require employers to provide paid sick leave. According to the bill’s sponsors, about 700,000 workers in Maryland are not able to earn time off when they are sick or a family member is ill.

Opponents blast the measure as anti-business and say it will increase the employers’ costs and force them to cut wages or raise prices.

For Emmanuel McCray, one of the demonstrators today, it’s about “dignity.” McCray said he was let go from his job at Maryland WalMart a year ago, just before he was about to earn the right to paid sick time.

“I have cancer but it was in remission,” said McCray, 35, of West Baltimore, who said he is now subsisting on Social Security and disability benefits.

“I’d rather work. I just have to make sure it’s a job where I can live and pay my bills. And part of that is paid sick leave.”