Hundreds of workers marched over the Brooklyn Bridge last Thursday calling on New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to support a bill that requires local small businesses to provide paid sick days to employees.

The bill would address cases like that of Guillermo Barrera.**

Barrera, an immigrant from Mexico and a father of two, was showcased by the organizers as the quintessential example of what workers without sick-day rights endure.

He said he was fired September 18th from his job of seven years as a cook at a Brooklyn restaurant, because he felt too sick to work and asked his boss for the day off.

“Many workers like myself cannot miss a day of work or get sick because of fear of losing our jobs,” Barrera said. “Especially in the current economy, many workers suffer mistreatments from their bosses.”

In New York City, organizers said, over 900,000 workers, many of them immigrants, do not get a single paid sick day, either for themselves or to care for a sick child. 

The lack of regulation in this area has caused many workers to be fired, suspended, or threatened by their employers. The proposed legislation, sponsored by Manhattan City Council Member Gail Brewer, would give workers the right to nine paid sick days a year.

Javier Valdez, deputy director of Make the Road New York, the activist organization spearheading the campaign for paid sick days, said that the bill already has the support of a majority of council members, but has yet to get Quinn’s backing.

Mayor Bloomberg, who is running for a third term, has said he supports the concept of the bill but has yet to back the current legislative proposal. Organizers are expecting him to take a position before Election Day, on November 3rd.

The premise of the bill is straightforward: All workers should have the right to days off work to deal with their own health or the health of a family member without risking their jobs. The need for sick-days benefits has become pressing these days after the recent H1N1 flu outbreak. According to CNNMoney, about half of America’s workers do not enjoy this right.

** Make the Road New York member