Over 50 people gathered Monday night for our first ever Paid Sick Leave Teach-In, helping us take our first step towards launching our upcoming Paid Sick Leave Campaign.

After getting to know each other over homemade tamales, this diverse group of volunteers from JUFJ, The Employment Justice Center, and the Restaurant Opportunities Center listened to local restaurant workers share their stories about working through foot injuries, pink eye, and blinding jaw pain just to make ends meet.

We even heard from our very own Orelia Busch, a JUFJ member and former restaurant worker, as she shared her experiences working for a restaurant downtown. After swapping stories and learning a bit more about the campaign, the group practiced outreach conversations to recruit more people to help us in our fight for better paid sick leave legislation.

ROC just published their National Diners' Guide , which provides information on the labor practices of the 150 largest restaurant companies and chains in America, and lists responsible restaurants where you can eat knowing that your server can afford to pay the rent and your cook isn't working while sick. The Diners' Guide has already drawn national and local media attention. JUFJ is working to make copies of the printed guide available, but for now, you can download the guide from the web.

Much gratitude to our partners at ROC and EJC for helping to plan this event, and a special thanks to all the wonderful JUFJers who committed to taking action! If you would like any more information about our campaign or what you can do to help, please contact Monica at monica@jufj.org or (202) 408-1423 ext 4.