NYC Council Hearing Focuses on Protecting Worker Rights

On Wednesday, the New York City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor held its first hearing of 2022, with a focus on how the City can take preventative measures including, but not limited not to enhancing worker protection requirements in City contracts, effective policy mechanisms to combat worker mistreatment, and stronger enforcement of workplace standards. The Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Carmen de la Rosa, listened to several hours of testimony via Zoom by dozens of labor leaders, worker advocates, and workers themselves.

“This Council has the opportunity to pass laws that will directly and immediately improve the lives of our city’s workers, and the CLC and our affiliates look forward to working with Chair de la Rosa and all of our elected representatives to advance those efforts," said NYC CLC President Vincent Alvarez, who testified about the overall status of New York City's workers, the impact of the pandemic, and the responsibility of city government to assist workers' efforts to improve their conditions and fulfill the original intent of the National Labor Relations Act to encourage collective bargaining. A link to video of the hearing will be added to the hearing's agenda page once it is posted.