Morgan Moone
The NY Hero act is supported by more than 100 labor, community, and safety organizations and would drastically impact essential workers who may otherwise not report violations.
By: Heather Lea Ramírez, Law at the Margins Intern
It is eight months within the COVID-19 pandemic and the number of positive cases and deaths continue to rise. While the federal government has failed to offer any substantial relief for United States citizens, it has purposefully left out the undocumented immigrant labor force by barring them from receiving federal stimulus relief. Despite this, the immigrant labor force continually works as “essential workers” during this pandemic. According to a recent report by the Center for Migration Studies of New York, “69% of all immigrants in the US labor force and 74% of undocumented workers are essential workers, compared to 65% of the native-born labor force.” The lack of workplace safety and standards concerning COVID-19 disproportionately affects low-income working-class immigrants. This has been further exacerbated by the fear of the Trump Administration’s proposed public charge rule that would deny green cards to immigrants who have or might receive food stamps or other public benefits including Medicaid. However, on November 2nd, Federal Judge Gary Feinerman struck down the proposed rule. Despite the recent ruling, it is uncertain the number of immigrants that have forgone seeking necessary medical care during the current pandemic. Advocates in New York State have been calling for support of the NY Hero Act or the New York Health and Essential Rights Act and view this as a solution in securing safer work conditions during this time for all workers especially essential workers on the frontlines.
On August 19th, Senate Deputy Leader, Michael Gianaris announced The NY Hero Act. According to Gianaris’ office, the bill “would mandate the Departments of Labor and Health to implement minimum standards for workplace safety, enforceable through significant fines. The regulations must include protocols on testing, PPE, social distancing, hand hygiene, disinfection, and engineering controls.” Businesses found in violation of the safety standards would be subjected to heavy fines.
The NY Hero act is supported by more than 100 labor, community, and safety organizations including: Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), UFCW 2013, Teamsters Joint Council 16, Teamsters Local 813, Laundry Worker Center, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), New York Nail Salon Workers Association, and ALIGN NY. The NY Hero Act would provide much needed protections for employees for reporting workplace safety violations.
The lack of workplace safety and standards concerning COVID-19 disproportionately affects low-income working-class immigrants. This has been further exacerbated by the fear of the Trump Administration’s proposed public charge rule.
In New York State, 70% of the undocumented labor force consists of essential workers. Some of the essential businesses are health, infrastructure, manufacturing, service, and food-related. A recent case of an essential worker fighting back during the pandemic is that of Beatriz Ramirez, a laundromat worker who was fired from her employer after she contracted COVID-19. In a Daily News Opinion article, “What New York owes essential workers now”, Ramirez writes about her experience suing her employer with the assistance of the Laundry Workers Center for wage theft after being paid below the minimum wage. In the article, she highlights that despite working in the height of the pandemic, her employers at New Giant Launder Center did not provide her and co-workers with personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks. Ramirez ended up contracting COVID-19 and was soon fired. As an immigrant worker, her family heavily depended on her income. She continues to fight back by picketing outside of the New Giant Launder Center and organizing for the NY Hero Act along with numerous other essential workers, unions, and labor activists. Unfortunately, Ramirez’s story is not unique, there are many other workers currently working in unsafe COVID workplace and work conditions.
The protections would drastically impact essential workers especially undocumented immigrants who, due to immigration status, may otherwise not report violations.
The NY Hero Act would provide much needed protections for employees for reporting workplace safety violations. The protections would drastically impact essential workers especially undocumented immigrants who, due to immigration status, may otherwise not report violations. However, there still remains the question of whether workers would actually report. There would need to be a city wide campaign to explain these protections and there would need to be clear ramifications for employers if they retaliate against workers for reporting violations. New York City is on the verge of a second wave of COVID-19 with cases surging and the city faces the possibility of increasing restrictions. The politicization of the pandemic has forestalled any real solutions including additional federal stimulus relief including immigrants, canceling rent, and stronger worker protections for essential workers. Essential workers still have not received the needed protections during this pandemic and have been on the frontlines and will continue to be as the pandemic proceeds.
As of early November, the language of the NY Hero Act is currently being finalized. If you are an organization based in New York State that is interested in signing on in support of the bill, please contact Alexander Marion, Director of Communications for Senator Gianaris’ legislative office at marion@nysenate.gov.
Interested in joining the campaign? Find the Protect NY Heroes campaign website here.
