The following is a statement by Brianna Brown, deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), on the decision today to grant an injunction against the City of Dallas Earned Paid Sick Leave Ordinance:
“As a pandemic shatters the health and financial stability of millions across the nation, this court ruling is particularly insidious and a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of workers who keep Dallas running.
“Working-class families built Dallas. Our families deserve the ability to take care of ourselves and our loved ones when we are sick or going through a personal crisis. One in three Dallas workers lacks access to paid sick time, the majority of whom are Black and Latino. We deserve far better, and we will not stop our fight for it.
“This pandemic has shown in very clear terms that wealth and prosperity are not created by the corporations. It is the working people who drive and grow our economy. Without them, our economy craters. The least they deserve is earned paid sick days.
“We know our efforts for earned paid sick leave have changed hearts and minds in Texas and our country, and that people are ready for policies that recognize that all workers deserve a living wage and benefits that allow them to live with dignity and provide for their loved ones.”
Deyonne Primo, a TOP member and Dallas worker added: “This court decision is not only on the wrong side of history, it is on the wrong side of now. For someone to not see the critical need for paid sick leave at a time when our country is being consumed by a pandemic, they must be heartless.”
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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.
This statement was sent out March 30, 2020.