Media Advisory: As flu epidemic spreads...

As flu epidemic spreads,
PHILADELPHIANS TO CALL FOR EARNED SICK DAYS

Council Members Will Re-Introduce Earned Sick Days Bill to Protect Public Health, Boost the Economy, and Strengthen Financial Security for Working Families

PHILADELPHIA—In a strong show of support, small business owners, workers, doctors, health care practitioners, economists, parents and Philadelphia City Council Members will rally behind a new push for earned sick days in City Hall Thursday morning. The group, organized by Philadelphia’s Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, will call on City Council to pass the Healthy Families and Workplaces Bill, which would ensure that the 200,000 Philadelphians who do not have access to paid sick time are able to take time off when they or their families are ill.

On the heels of the worst flu season in a decade that has resulted in 40 deaths in Pennsylvania alone, the urgent need for earned sick time and its immediate public health benefits are clear. Councilman Bill Greenlee will introduce the 2013 Earned Sick Time Bill to an audience of 6 Co-Sponsors, including Council President Darrell Clarke, Councilman Curtis Jones, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Councilwoman Marian Tasco, and Councilman W. Wilson Goode, Jr. More than 100 Philadelphians will line the halls to show their support for the bill.

WHAT: Introduction of the Philadelphia Earned Sick Days Bill and Rally in support of Earned Sick Days

WHEN: Thursday January 24 at 9 AM

WHERE: City Hall, 4th Floor Hallway

WHO:
Earned Sick Days Sponsor Councilman Bill Greenlee
Council President Darrell Clarke
150 Philadelphians including workers, business owners, health care experts, economists and parents

VISUAL: Hallway packed with earned sick days supporters, holding signs with slogans like “Earned sick time = Flu prevention,” and “Philly’s families need earned sick time.”

Across the country, cities and states have been adopting paid sick days policies to help improve public health and bolster the economic recovery. In the summer of 2011, Connecticut passed the first statewide paid sick days law, followed soon after by a city-wide law in Seattle adding to the existing laws in San Francisco and Washington, DC, and to growing momentum from active campaigns in Massachusetts, New York City, Portland, and others.