FYI...Working Families Party Director Dan Cantor will join today's press conference at noon on the City Hall steps in support of a bill to guarantee paid sick days to all New Yorkers.  The bill is a major priority of the WFP.  - Dan
At the WFP's Mayoral Forum on July 1st, Mayor Bloomberg indicated that he supported requiring large employers in NYC to offer paid sick time:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/nyregion/03candidates.html
-- Dan LevitanCommunicationsWorking Families PartyO: (718) 222-3796  ext. 237C: (201) 674-7475 www.workingfamiliesparty.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                             PRESS ADVISORY

Wednesday, July 29th PRESS
CONFERENCE-CITY HALL

For More Information
Contact:  Donna Dolan 212-344-7332

Sherry Leiwant 917-536-0075 

“Broad New York City Coalition Announces Campaign
Launch for Paid Sick Time Bill for Private Sector Workers” 

New York City—City Council
Member Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) along with the New York State Paid Family
Leave Coalition and A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center will
announce the 2009 campaign launch for an Earned Paid Sick Time Bill covering
private sector workers in New York City. 

More than 900,000 workers in New York City do not have
one paid sick day including most of those who handle and serve our food,
and a majority of low-wage workers.  Without paid sick days, these
workers are forced to come to work sick because they cannot afford to lose pay
or risk losing their jobs.  The bill, with a growing list of co-sponsors,
is expected to be formally introduced by Council Member Brewer in a few weeks. 
The bill would allow employees to earn up to 9 paid sick days.  Employees
in small businesses could earn up to 5 days.   

A press conference announcing the launch of a campaign for
the earned paid sick time bill is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at
noon on the steps of City Hall.  Participating in the press conference
in addition to elected officials will be: 

• Business owners, including the owner of the top-rated
  restaurant, One if by Land, Two if by Sea, Dr. Wendy Chavkin, professor at
  Columbia’s School of Public Health, and labor leader, Ed Ott. Workers who
  lack paid sick days will be available for interviews.

In proposing the bill,
supporters noted that a possible re-introduction of the H1N1 virus, also known
as swine flu, in the City this fall could lead to hundreds of thousands of flu
cases and calls by public health officials to stay home if flu symptoms
appear.  Without paid sick days, many workers, particularly low wage
workers, cannot heed that call for themselves or their children. 

Three cities-San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Milwaukee [implementation
has been delayed]-already have laws that require all employers to provide a
minimum number of paid sick days to their employees. Mayor Bloomberg has
endorsed a paid sick time concept