In a victory for workers, the New York City Council has passed a bill requiring businesses to grant five paid sick days per year. Bill sponsor Gale Brewer hailed the measure as “one of the most progressive pieces of legislation ever in history.” The bill is a compromise that exempts smaller businesses and delays the requirement from coming into effect if the economy is bad. Sick-pay legislation had been blocked for three years by Speaker Christine Quinn, who is running for mayor and had faced increasing pressure to bring the issue to a vote. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to veto the bill, but it appears to have enough support to override his veto; just three council members voted against it Wednesday, with 45 voting in favor. Roughly 1.3 million workers in New York City are docked pay if they stay home sick — that is four in 10 employees. The bill would cover roughly 925,000 of them.