New York City Health Care Security Act (2005)
Topics: Workers Rights & Wages | legislation
The goal of this law is to “help responsible businesses continue offering health care and expand access to health care for tens of thousands of working New Yorkers and their families, while indirectly saving tax-payers money.” Responding to Wal-Mart’s efforts to open stores in Manhattan, and the likely pressure that existing employers would face to cut health care costs in order to compete, the New York City Council approved this bill by the overwhelming majority of 46 to 1. City legislators chose the grocery industry to test the waters on this innovative bill, knowing they had support from the leading grocery chains that already pay substantially higher benefits than Wal-Mart, but the intention is to eventually include other retail sectors. If enacted, the law would require grocery employers to pay a minimum amount for health insurance. The idea is to level the playing field for Wal-Mart’s competitors and enforce humanistic standards on this bottom-line oriented corporation. This bill provides the language you could adapt to any community, and despite a veto by the City’s Mayor, supporters of the measure believe there are sufficient votes to override the Mayor’s veto
