Question 4, which Democrats are promoting as a wedge issue in this year’s race for governor, got a jolt of support Thursday as 200 business officials officially backed the proposal aimed at broadening the pool of workers with sick time benefits.
The Alliance for Business Leadership endorsed the proposal, which is being pushed by unions on behalf of mostly low-income workers.
“As CEOs, senior executives, entrepreneurs, and investors, we can all take time off to see the doctor or care for a family member without risking our jobs or a day’s pay, and everyone in Massachusetts should be able to do the same,” alliance chairman Phil Edmundson, CEO of Boston-based insurance firm William Gallagher Associates, said in a statement.
Under the proposal, workers at companies with up to 10 employees would earn up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time in a calendar year to visit the doctor or take care of a sick family member. Critics of the proposal say benefit decisions are best left to employers, based on the dynamics of their individual companies.
While the list of 200 officials was not available, the alliance’s board includes officials from companies with ties to Democrats. It includes the founders and CEOs of Tufts Health Plan, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Panera, Boston Capital Corp., and Zipcar.
Martha Coakley, the Democratic nominee for governor, supports the question and has been actively contrasting her position with that of her chief rival, Republican Charles Baker. Baker believes all employers should provide some sort of sick leave time to their full-time employees and notes that most already do that, but his campaign has called the question a “one-size-fits-all mandate.”
