The younger set walks the walk for a 'yes' on Q. 4

It was a school night, but that didn’t stop the 75 or so young people clustered in St. Mary’s Church in Uphams Corner from heading out to knock on doors in the evening hours of Wed., Oct. 15. Many of them were teen-agers, not yet old enough to vote, but they were organized and on a mission: Encourage Uphams Corner residents to vote “yes” next month on Ballot Question 4.

A positive vote statewide on Question 4 would entitle Massachusetts workers to earn up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year, depending on the number of employees at their workplaces. For every 30 hours worked, employees would earn one hour of paid sick time, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, giving them time off to care for themselves or a sick family member without fear of losing a job. Massachusetts employers are currently not obligated to provide paid sick time for an employee.

A senior at the John D. O’Bryant High School, 18-year-old Jaelle Sanon of Roxbury, led a group of three other young people up and down the stoops in Uphams Corner. Knocking on door after door, Sanon and her team of Youth Jobs Coalition members made their pitch: “I’m here to remind you to vote on November 4 and to vote yes on Question 4. Do you know about Question 4?”

After an hour and a half of pounding pavement and buzzing doors, they had persuaded five voters to pledge a “yes” for the question – pretty good, according to Sanon, a seasoned door knocker. “Most people don’t even answer the door. But these people were more receptive and I’ve been doing this for five years.”
Added 20-year-old Tania Ortiz of the South End: “Yeah, I’m shocked no one’s slammed their door in our faces.”

“At the core, this is about dignity; it’s a really easy way to galvanize voters because they know that they’ll have a say with the ballot question,” said Seth Woody, an organizer with the Youth Jobs Coalition and the Beloved Community movement. He helped organize the house-to-house event, called “Faith in Action.” It’s “the intersection of youth organizing and people motivated by their faith,” he said.

The “Yes” on Question 4 campaign has a broad swath of support, according to the polls. A WBUR survey conducted in mid-September reported that 56 percent of those polled supported the measure compared to 25 percent who did not, with 18 percent undecided. That support primarily comes from organized labor, faith-based organizations, and social justice groups. Ortiz and Sanon were brought into the fold through the Youth Jobs Coalition, which also has mobilized young people to support a minimum wage increase.

Supporters recognize that political issues are at work against them: The fact that it is a midterm year, with a low turnout expected among signs of voter fatigue, seems to offer a potential barrier to success. But to these teens, that is more of a reason to stay organized.

“Hopefully this will go well,” Sanon said before he and the others headed out to knock on doors. “We have pretty strong opponents. They have a lot of money. But we have people.”

In fact, opponents to Question 4 have money: They spent $30,000 on ads in the first half of October, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, with most of the funds coming from in-state and national restaurant associations. One of those ads came under fire for using photos of businesses in Illinois and Ukraine. “We’re out in response to that ad,” Woody said.

Still, “Yes” on Question 4 backers aren’t exactly wanting for cash; they have more money than the opposition: Raise Up, the main organization behind the ballot initiative, has $375,557 in its war chest as of October 15, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The group also rolled out its first set of TV ads on Tuesday.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley has come out hard in support of the sick time measure, frequently mentioning it in stump speeches as one of the few substantial ways she can draw a contrast to her Republican opponent Charlie Baker. Baker does not support the ballot initiative but has proposed an alternative sick time measure.

“When an employer doesn’t give someone the right to be sick, or the right to take care of their kids when they’re sick, there’s no need for education for voters,” said Woody. “It’s pretty straightforward.”

Her door-knocking stint was a first for Ortiz, but she said she closely identifies with the cause. “I have family members who have almost been fired for taking a day off,” she said. “Once you lose your job, you can’t get anything done. It makes me want to fight for that change. This isn’t a want, it’s a need.”


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