“I was forced to ask my boss for some time off so I could take care of my sibling. When I asked for a few days of leave, my boss told me flat-out:  if you go, don’t bother coming back.”

These are the words of Ai Elo, a restaurant worker from Brooklyn and member of the Restaurant Opportunity Center, who told her story about getting fired when she needed to take care of her younger brother at a rally held a few weeks ago to mark the launch of a new Women for Paid Sick Days Initiative. Sadly and unfairly, Ai’s story is not unique in New York City, where I live, and around the world. There are about a million workers ...