Hochul signs labor protections into law

Governor Kathy Hochul signed four labor protection bills into law on Labor Day, including one bill from State Senator Jessica Ramos.  Photo by Ermell/Wikimedia Commons

By Jacob Kaye

New York’s new governor signed four bills into law on Labor Day aimed at upping workplace safety, including one bill championed by a Queens elected official.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed the four bills which implement speed monitoring systems in work zones, require the payment of the prevailing wage to building service employees and co-ops and condos that receive tax abatements, change the cap on workers benefits and make construction contractors jointly liable for wage theft, respectively.

"On Labor Day every year, we're reminded of the vital contributions of organized labor to building New York, and that's why I'm signing four pieces of legislation to help workers thrive across our state," Hochul said. "These bills will make sure workers are paid fair wages, receive good benefits and stay safe on their worksites.”

The wage theft bill was sponsored by Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos.

"This Labor Day, we make history for New York's workers,” Ramos said in a statement. “Addressing wage theft in the construction industry and strengthening the benefits for New Yorkers in the Shared Work Program put more money in working families' pockets.”

The law, which will go into effect in 120 days, will now hold contractors at construction sites legally liable when subcontractors allegedly commit wage theft.

Prior to the bill’s passage into law, contractors were not liable unless there was an employment relationship between the contractor and the employee of the subcontractor.

The new law also allows contractors to demand payroll information from subcontractors and withhold payment if the information isn’t handed over.

The bill passed the State Senate in June. 

Kevin Barry, the director of the Construction Division for the United Service Workers Union, IUJAT, told the Eagle that wage theft was a widespread problem back when the bill was originally passed.

“What happens now is general contractors go out and they get these lowball numbers,” Barry said. “And legitimate contractors look at these numbers and are like, ‘I can't even compete with this. How are they doing it?’ Well, what they're doing is they're cheating the workers.”

Barry, who was in support of the bill, said that subcontractors often “exploit a lot of immigrant labor.”

“[The bill is] going to be able to hold these general contractors and their subcontractors responsible,” he added.