Over a hundred people rallied today at City Hall in support of a landmark bill that would give every worker in New York City the right to earn paid sick leave at work.
Gloria Steinem was on hand, joining a growing coalition of public health experts, small business owners, advocates for women and families, community organizations, labor unions, and the WFP behind an essential measure to protect public health and ensure basic workplace rights.
After the rally, the Council held hearings on the Paid Sick Time act. Here’s some highlights:
“San Francisco was the first jurisdiction in the United States with a paid sick leave requirement…we have heard relatively few complaints or problems from employers with respect to implementation of the law. I am not aware of any employers in San Francisco who have reduced staff or made any other significant changes in their businesses as a result of the sick leave ordinance.”
“The simplest, easiest, and most effective thing that can be done do to contain Swine Flu is to make sure that those who need it can take a day off work. It’s good for patients, good for working families, and absolutely critical for the city’s public health.”
Ramon Murphy, President of the Bodegas Association
“As small business owners, we know that paid sick days are important for our employees and our businesses. We do not want workers coming to work sick because it poses a threat to other workers and to our customers….we support a bill that would level the playing field and insure that all businesses provided this benefit so that we do not feel at a disadvantage because we are doing the right thing for our workers and for the public health of the city.”
Freddy Castiblanco, Small Business United for Health Care
“As small business owner I understand that it is not only for the benefit of employees that this proposal makes sense: If we support our workers when they need us the most, as is the case when they are sick, they will become more committed to and experience a real sense of belonging to their job. Healthy workers make productive businesses. Our employees need to take the time they need to recuperate from illness without worrying about the repercussions of taking a day off.”
Guillermo Barrera, worker fired for getting sick:
“I told my boss that I felt sick but she didn’t pay any attention. At 7:00 in the morning, when I felt that I couldn’t last much longer, I called my wife and asked her to bring me to the hospital. When my wife arrived to pick me up, my boss began to yell and insult me and said that I shouldn’t come back because she was firing me because I didn’t take my job seriously enough. Suddenly I found myself out of a job and without a way to support my family – all because I had got too sick to work.”
“IWPR estimates that universal paid sick days will result in significant savings to employers, workers, families, and the general public. Employers are expected to see much of the cost of implementing paid sick days defrayed by a reduction in costs associated with employee turnover….an IWPR analysis of employment in San Francisco before and after the implementation of their paid sick days ordinance found that San Francisco’s job growth remained stronger than that in the surrounding counties.”
“If enacted, Intro. 1059 would be only the third law in the country that specifically grants victims of domestic and sexual violence…paid sick leave to attend to the various medical, legal, safety, and housing issues that arise as a result of the violence. This provision would have a significant impact on the safety and economic security of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, particularly women and children, who are victims of domestic violence.”
