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No Override Vote on Veto of Paid Sick Leave

Councilman William K. Greenlee did not call today for a vote to override Mayor Nutter's veto of the paid sick leave bill, saying he could not find the one vote necessary.

Paid sick leave was passed last month by an 11-6 margin, and Greenlee, the bill's sponsor, would have needed 12 votes to overturn the veto.

Despite pressure from labor unions and a coalition of advocacy groups, all six Council members who voted against paid sick leave – Republicans Brian J. O'Neill, Dennis O'Brien and David Oh, and Democrats Bill Green, James F. Kenney and Mark Squilla – stood by their opposition.

Greenlee apologized to what he said were the 180,000 workers in the city who don't get paid sick days from their employers and vowed that Philadelphia would join cities like San Francisco that have passed the requirement.

"I could not get this done for them what other progressive cities around the country have," he said. "Philadelphia will have earned sick days in the future. It's just a shame we won't be in the forefront and instead will be bringing up the rear.

The bill passed in 2011 by a 9-8 vote and Nutter vetoed it then as well.

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