[[link removed]]Dear John,

For months this spring, we stood on our doorsteps and leaned out our windows to bang pots and pans, cheering on the nurses, doctors, grocery store and delivery workers, subway conductors, sanitation workers and so many other essential workers who keep our city going. It was a powerful expression of gratitude and solidarity with workers.

Grimly, as Labor Day arrives, we have not lived up to it. Those food delivery workers are still without paid sick leave. The Amazon warehouse, fast-food, and even health care workers can still be fired on a whim, making it risky to blow the whistle on unsafe conditions.

In the spring, I proposed an Essential Workers Bill of Rights that expanded rights to sick leave, protections against unfair firings, and hazard pay. All these pandemic months later, the City Council has not yet moved the bills forward. We’ve left these workers -- who we spent so much time calling “essential” -- to suffer, when we could have protected them.

On this Labor Day, I’m disappointed in our failure to show up for workers. But I’m not giving up. I’m renewing my commitment to pass our Essential Workers Bill of Rights, and expanding protections for all workers in our city.

Join me fighting for worker protections that honor the labor and sacrifice of essential workers. [[link removed]]

There is a lot of talk about appreciating workers, but so far very little action. In fact, rather than expand worker protections, city, state, and federal leaders are dragging their heels on proposals to help workers:

*
The
GOP
Senate
and
President
Trump
are
driving
families
toward
ruin
and
our
economy
toward
wreckage
by
refusing
to
renew
pandemic
unemployment
assistance.


*
Governor
Cuomo
and
the
State
Legislature
have
refused
to
tax
the
wealthiest
among
us
to
#FundExcludedWorkers,
the
majority
of
whom
are
immigrants
who
have
been
shut
out
of
any
form
of
relief
during
this
crisis.


*
Mayor
de
Blasio
is
threatening
to
lay
off
22,000
people
who
make
the
city
run,
including
EMTs,
teachers,
parks
and
sanitation
workers,
if
the
city
doesn't
get
permission
from
Albany
to
borrow
or
unions
agree
to
cuts
to
benefits.


*
Many
of
the
workers
who
have
returned
to
work
lack
basic
protections,
like
nail
salon
technicians
or
construction
day
laborers,
who
are
misclassified
as
independent
contractors
--
so
they
have
to
work
in
a
pandemic
without
paid
sick
days,
health
care,
workers
comp,
or
other
benefits.


*
And
with
the
start
of
school
just
around
the
corner,
working
families
are
struggling
with
anxiety
about
the
safety
of
classrooms,
hybrid
schedules,
lack
of
child
care,
access
to
technology,
and
so
much
more.
For
teachers
and
school
staff
and
child
care
workers
who
are
also
parents,
the
challenges
are
even
more
compounded.
But
we’ve
allowed
a
long-standing
child
care
crisis
to
boil
into
an
emergency.
And
we
haven’t
even
taken
steps
to
require
employers
to
give
reasonable
accommodations
to
working
parents
--
so
some
people
could
literally
be
forced
to
choose
between
leaving
their
kids
at
home
unsupervised
and
losing
their
jobs.



We owe our essential workers so much better. We owe all workers so much better.

We have a choice this Labor Day. We can close our eyes to all this suffering, wish for a world where things are “back to normal,” continue in our collective failure to act, and leave all these workers struggling without protections.

Or we can remember what we felt during that 7 PM cheer for workers, honor the solidarity it expressed, demand more of ourselves and our leaders, and step up to our responsibility to learn the lessons of this pandemic.

Join me in calling on Speaker Corey Johnson and the City Council to bring the Essential Workers Bill of Rights to a vote. [[link removed]]

I hope you and your family are finding safe and fun ways to enjoy this Labor Day weekend.

And I hope we collectively find ways to honor its call.

Brad

Lander for NYC
456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Suite 2
Brooklyn, NY 11215
[email protected]

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