Group 'Surrounds' Philadelphia City Hall With Support For Paid Sick Leave Law
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Community groups pushing for a new law in Philadelphia that would require most businesses in the city to offer paid sick days to workers today urged City Council to move the bill forward.
And they did it in an usual way: by surrounding City Hall with thousands of of orange postcards.
Elizabeth Lassiter, with Action United, was handing out flyers outside City Hall this morning to raise awareness about the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, awaiting action in City Council.
"A quarter-million people here in Philadelphia do not get paid sick days," she said to a passerby. "That's because there's no law that requires these companies to pay their employees paid sick days."
Lassiter (in center of photo, wearing white t-shirt and hat) and dozens of other activists held up thousands of postcards strung togther, wrapping City Hall.
"We have postcards from every district," Lassiter said. "These are the people and voices that say they support the paid sick day bill, that everyone deserves to have paid sick days."
Critics say it would be too expensive for some small business owners, forcing them out of the city. Lassiter says the measure would prevent the spread of illness, and she adds that healthy, happy workers workers are more productive.
Reported by Jim Melwert, KYW Newsradio 1060
