By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Four locals of the influential Service Employees International Union will endorse D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz today for reelection because of her support of a controversial bill that made the District the nation's second city to mandate paid sick leave for workers.

The locals, 32BJ, 500, 722 and 400, will announce plans to help her with knocking on doors and staffing phone banks in the Sept. 9 Republican primary. Local 32BJ, which has 10,000 members in the region, is the largest union for janitors and security officers in the country.

"She helped us get this through, and we're going to help her in her campaign," said Jaime Contreras, capital area district director for Local 32BJ. "For us, Carol Schwartz was a real partner in making sure that workers in the District had benefits that workers in the whole country should have."

Schwartz (R-At Large), who is seeking a fifth term, faces a formidable challenge from Patrick Mara, 33, a former U.S. Senate staff member who raised $50,000 in a matter of weeks among business leaders, particularly parking magnates. Mara, who works as a government relations consultant, also was endorsed by the political arm of the powerful Greater Washington Board of Trade.

Although Schwartz, 64, received a nod from the Hotel Association of Washington D.C. political action committee, she said she recognizes the business community's continued resentment of the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act.

The law bases paid leave for full-time and part-time workers on a sliding scale. For example, full-time employees at businesses with 100 or more workers get seven days of paid sick leave, and employees at businesses with 24 or fewer workers get three days.

The legislation became a tug of war between the labor and business communities, with the D.C. Chamber of Commerce leading the opposition for businesses. In the end, wait staff and health-care workers were exempted, and the number of days granted to workers were reduced. Labor unions considered the bill weakened but were impressed that Schwartz did not abandon the legislation. If the business community is coming after her for the bill, "so be it," she said. "I'm very proud of that legislation and the balancing act that I did."

But Mara said the legislation was not well-researched and noted the lack of track record because San Francisco is the only other city to impose such a mandate. "Nobody looked at the costs of sick and safe," he said. "Employers may have to lay off people."

Mara said he wants to reduce the city's unemployment rate, particularly in wards 7 and 8, and the city can't afford to lose employers. "This is yet another piece of legislation that makes it less likely that businesses will locate here," he said.

James C. Dinegar, president and chief executive of the Board of Trade, said that the organization considered the sick leave bill "anti-business" but that the endorsement of Mara reflects other concerns as well, such as Schwartz's opposition to the school takeover by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). Mara has said he would have supported the takeover. Schwartz, a former school board member, said the city needed a school board.

Both candidates have endorsement interviews tomorrow with the Chamber of Commerce.