NYC Council OKs Sick Days Plan, Seen as Key Step
In a significant victory amid a push for paid sick time laws around the country, city lawmakers voted Wednesday to make businesses provide the benefit to an estimated 1 million workers who don't have it now.
Saying they hoped that requiring sick leave in the nation's largest metropolis would set an example, City Council members positioned New York to become the most populous place to approve such a law during a campaign that has scored several victories but also a number of defeats. A mayoral veto is expected, but so is an override.
Advocates see the measure as a signal accomplishment, although it has some significant limits and conditions.
"It's very important that it's happening in the biggest city," said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. Besides the big-city setting, the New York measure also attracted some boldface-name backers, including feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Paid-Sick-Leave-NYC-City-Council-Vote-206558921.html
