Labor's Post Pandemic Recovery Agenda

 Ensure our heroes never suffer again because the state is ill-prepared.  This public health emergency has made it clear that the state, its health care delivery system and employers are not prepared to protect workers in the face of a crisis. Workers must be provided with the equipment and protocols they need and deserve to keep them safe, including staffing requirements and stockpiling appropriate PPE, not just for health care but all industries.

Expand and enhance basic labor protections for all working people.  The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us just how porous the safety net for working people is, necessitating passage of a dizzying array of emergency protections that still leave out whole segments of the economy from the entertainment industry to the gig economy.  Although this crisis is impacting all New Yorkers in one way or another, workers face individual non-pandemic crises every day and should not be forced to scramble to survive. 

Invest in public services and those that provide them.  New Yorkers reliance on vital services has never been clearer.  We cannot continue to starve our agencies and local governments and expect them to perform at optimum levels for our everyday need, let alone in a crisis.  That starts with fully-funding services and the hardworking men and women that deliver them, not taking more money out of their pockets.

Rebuild our infrastructure and economy with union labor.   We can put New Yorkers back to work and invest in our long-term future by rebuilding our state.  We have dire needs in roads, bridges, mass transit, clean energy, technology and communications infrastructure.  But we also must ensure that we’re using highly-skilled workforce, receiving good wages and benefits.

Create good jobs and generate revenue.  The state can develop new industries and good jobs in the process with smart investments and regulations.  Adult-use marijuana is just one example where the state with appropriate labor protections can usher in a new industry with good wages invested right back into our local economies, and new tax revenue to support vital services like education, health care, and transportation. 

Let the wealthiest among us shoulder the cost.  The wealthy have experienced all the gains in the economy since the Great Recession.  Steps to restore any semblance of balance have been modest at best - minimum wage increases and temporary and insufficient tax surcharges.  It’s time to take real and permanent steps to ensure those who can afford it most, pay their fair share.