Council speaker to oppose mandatory paid sick days
Crain's New York-Daniel Massey - October 14, 2010City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been unable to reach a compromise between proponents and opponents of proposed paid sick leave legislation and will announce her opposition to the measure at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, two people familiar with the bill said.
Ms. Quinn's decision means the bill is unlikely to get to the Council floor for a vote anytime this year. It's a major setback for a Working Families Party-led coalition that had made passage of the paid sick days bill a top priority.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Quinn would not comment before the press event, which is set for later on Thursday afternoon.
“Given all of the time and effort spent trying to address the issue, it's really important to us that Speaker Quinn took our concerns into consideration,” said Linda Baran, president of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. “We're really pleased she recognized that this is the worst possible time to introduce such a bill.”
A coalition of the city's five chambers of commerce had called for an overhaul of Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal that would require businesses with 20 or more employees to provide nine paid sick days and smaller ones to give five. The coalition wanted an exemption for businesses of 50 or fewer employees, a financial hardship clause and a stipulation that any employer with a comparable time-off policy be untouched by the bill.
The group also drew up an alternative measure, dubbed the Shared Sick Leave Act, calling for workers to contribute to a “sick-day fund” and for employer tax credits to help cover costs of the benefit.
Neither of the proposals was considered acceptable to the Working Families Party, which insisted any bill provide universal coverage (with a few exceptions) and require the sick days be employer-funded.
“This fight is far from over,” said Dan Morris, director of communications for the Drum Major Institute, a liberal think tank that is part of the coalition pushing the bill. “Thousands of people across the city are well-organized and fired up and will continue speaking out in favor of a bill that deserves to be passed.”
Some 35 Council members had signed on to support the bill. A spokesman for the Working Families Party said Tuesday the coalition would continue to press Ms. Quinn on the measure.
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