News about current legislation affecting workplace rights before the U.S. Congress and the legislatures of all 50 states.
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Paterson's Order Will Help Unions Trying to Organize
Source: Nicholas Confessore, New York Times
Date: May 4, 2009
Gov. David A. Paterson has issued an order making it easier for labor unions to organize thousands of workers at some of New York's largest new hotel and convention center projects, including hotels in Niagara Falls and at the Belmont Park racetrack in Nassau County and the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Higher limits on donations from unions to take effect
Source: Winnie Hu, New York Times
Date: December 15, 2005
In a reversal, [New York City] Mayor Michael Bloomberg will allow a law to take effect under which
labor unions can sharply increase their donations to political candidates. It would be the most significant
loosening of contribution limits since the city's campaign finance program was set up in 1988. The independent
agency that enforces the city's campaign finance rules and government watchdog groups had vigorously opposed
the legislation, contending that it would effectively create a loophole for unions to vastly increase their
influence over the city's elected officials. But the legislation has quickly gained support among council
members as unions and their lobbyists have increasingly exerted their force in city politics.
N.Y. Council backs benefits bill
Source: Amy Joyce, Washington Post
Date: August 18, 2005
The New York City Council passed a measure requiring most stores that sell groceries to
provide a set level of health care coverage for their workers. Legislators in New Jersey, Connecticut,
Washington state, San Francisco and Suffolk County in New York are considering similar bills. The movement is
driven by concern over the expansion of big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, and high-end gourmet grocers such
as Whole Foods, which typically provide fewer health care benefits than do unionized grocery stores. Council
leaders said the legislation is needed to ensure that workers do not have to rely on public health programs,
which are a drain on the city.
Pataki signs pension bill for workers at ground zero
Source: Michael Cooper, New York Times
Date: June 16, 2005
[New York] Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill Wednesday that will increase the pensions the city must pay to
employees who worked at the World Trade Center site after Sept. 11, 2001. Governor Pataki had twice vetoed the
bill, which was strongly supported by the city's unions, but he signed it this year after it was amended
slightly. [New York] City officials say it will still be too costly. The new law will establish a legal
presumption that city workers who responded to the Sept. 11 attacks and the ensuing cleanup operations, and who
were later found to have diseases including cancer, respiratory illness and certain skin ailments, became sick
because of their official duties. That entitles them to disability pensions worth 75 percent of their
salaries.
NYC law on equal benefits struck down
Source: Associated Press, New York Times
Date: March 16, 2005
A
state appeals court Tuesday struck down a law barring the city from doing business with companies that provide
benefits for employees' spouses but not for their gay partners. The city's equal benefits law required
companies with city contracts worth $100,000 or more to provide health, family and bereavement benefits to
domestic partners, gay or straight. After the City Council passed the legislation in May, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg vetoed it. The City Council overrode his veto, and the Bloomberg administration sued. State Supreme
Court Justice Faviola Soto sided with the City Council in December; the mayor appealed and the Appellate
Division reversed her.
Over Pataki veto, minimum wage to rise to $7.15
Source: Al Baker, New York Times
Date: December 7, 2004
Republicans in the
State Senate forced through a measure on Monday that will gradually raise the minimum wage in New York State by
$2 to $7.15 an hour by January 2007, overriding Gov. George E. Pataki's veto of the proposal. The vote was a
stinging rebuke to the governor from members of his own party. Mr. Pataki had argued that raising the minimum
wage would put New York businesses at a competitive disadvantage. But in overriding the governor, Senate
Republicans, who have been struggling to maintain a majority in their house, kept a pre-Election Day campaign
promise.
Assembly seeks override of minimum wage; Senate mum
Source: Michael Gormley, Associated Press, Newsday
Date: August 11, 2004
The Assembly's Democratic majority on Wednesday
overwhelmingly voted to override Gov. George Pataki's veto of a bill to raise the minimum wage in New York
state. Its swift action was met by silence from Assembly Republicans and uncertain support in the state Senate.
The unusual override passed 129-19 in the Assembly mostly along party lines. Republicans opposed to challenging
the Republican governor offered no debate. The override measure was sent to the Republican-controlled Senate,
where no immediate action was expected.
Veto on minimum wage rouses many in Albany
Source: Al Baker, New York Times
Date: July 31, 2004
Democrats and allies
of New York's lowest-paid workers vowed on Friday to fight back after Gov. George E. Pataki vetoed an increase
of the minimum wage, a move that aligned the governor more closely with the conservative wing of his party.
There were calls for a legislative override and for turning up the political heat on the State Senate's
Republican majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, who had resisted the wage increase until leading Democrats vowed
to flog vulnerable Republican New York City senators for failing to move on the measure when they face election
this fall. There was also speculation about whether Mr. Bruno, with help from Mr. Pataki, a fellow Republican,
was trying to have it both ways on an issue long popular with liberals, the Working Families Party and labor
unions.
Pataki vetoes bill to increase minimum wage in New York
Source: Al Baker, New York Times
Date: July 30, 2004
Gov.
George E. Pataki vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have given a pay raise to thousands of New York's
lowest-paid workers by gradually increasing the minimum wage to $7.15 from $5.15 an hour by January 2007. In
his veto message, Governor Pataki reiterated his support for a higher minimum wage but said he would prefer
that the federal minimum be raised, so that New York businesses not be put at a competitive disadvantage with
those in nearby states. The governor's veto returned the focus to the Legislature, where the measure passed by
seemingly veto-proof margins. Democrats insisted that overriding the veto would be their No. 1 priority when
they return to Albany on Monday.
N.Y. farm workers seek state protections
Source: Associated Press, New York Times
Date: July 22, 2004
Farm
workers in New York say it's time they get the same labor protections as everybody else. They've found
support from the Democrat-controlled Assembly. Now, their message is directed at the state Senate, led by
Republicans. The Assembly already has passed the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act, which would require
employers to pay overtime, give a day off each week, provide collective bargaining protection and apply
sanitary codes to all farm and food processing facilities where workers live. The measure would also require
the reporting of on-the-job injuries and mandate that farm owners provide workers with workers' compensation
claim forms. California, the country's biggest agricultural state, gave farm workers the same rights as other
laborers 40 years ago.
Albany leaders agree to raise minimum wage
Source: Al Baker, New York Times
Date: July 21, 2004
The state's two top
legislators agreed on Tuesday to gradually raise the minimum wage in New York State by $2--to $7.15 from $5.15
an hour--by January 2007. Proponents of the higher wage said that if Gov. George E. Pataki signs the measure
into law, it would put more disposable income into the pockets of hundreds of thousands of the state's
lowest-paid workers, help lift families out of poverty and boost New York's overall economy. The governor said
he was awaiting details of the deal. The measure being crafted would raise New York's minimum wage for the
first time in more than four years, allowing the state to join 12 others, including Connecticut, Massachusetts
and Vermont, in requiring that workers be paid more than the federal government's hourly minimum of $5.15.
Business group backs raise in New York minimum wage
Source: Michael Cooper, New York Times
Date: July 15, 2004
Advocates of raising the state's minimum wage won support from a powerful, if unexpected, quarter on
Wednesday when the Partnership for New York City, one of the city's leading business groups, urged the State
Senate to pass a bill raising the minimum wage to $7.10 an hour from $5.15. Until now, calls for a higher
minimum wage have largely come from labor unions, Democrats, the Roman Catholic Church and the Working Families
Party. Several business groups have come out against a higher minimum wage, arguing that it would drive up
employers' expenses and could cost the state jobs.
City Council affirms domestic partner benefits
Source: Mike McIntire, New York Times
Date: June 29, 2004
Overriding
another of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vetoes, the [New York] City Council voted yesterday to require that
companies doing business with the city offer equal benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. The
override clears the way for New York to join a handful of other large cities that require businesses seeking
municipal contracts to extend to same-sex couples the same family health insurance benefits provided to other
workers. The mayor's stance has inflamed an already antagonistic relationship with the Council, which has
overridden 15 vetoes by the administration since [he] took office. It also further involved the mayor in the
complex politics of gay rights, which has proved to be one of his more vexing issues.
Bruno blocking Senate vote on minimum wage
Source: Heidi Evans, New York Daily News
Date: May 23, 2004
An
overwhelming majority of the 61-member state Senate surveyed by the Daily News said they would vote yes to
raise New York's $5.15-an-hour minimum wage to $7.10, helping to lift nearly 1 million workers from poverty.
But Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who has the sole power to decide whether an issue comes before the Senate for a
vote, will not be moved.
Nannies to rally for better wages
Source: Robert Polner, New York Newsday
Date: May 19, 2004
Thursday, many local nannies are heading to Central Park sans strollers
to demand a living wage of at least $14 an hour plus health insurance and benefits. The event is an attempt to
win public support for a "domestic workers bill of rights" to raise the status and compensation levels of an
occupation that employs about 800,000 women statewide.
Georgia Voters to Make Decision on Gay-Marriage Issue in Fall
Source: New York Times, Ocala Star Banner
Date: April 1, 2004
In an extremely close vote, Georgia's House of Representatives
approved a measure Wednesday night that will allow voters to decide in November whether a ban on same-sex
marriage should be added to the State Constitution. The Republican-led Senate approved the bill in February,
and Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, has said he will sign it, a move guaranteeing its placement on the ballot.
Georgia is one of about two dozen states that already have laws banning same-sex marriage but this year decided
to consider strengthening the prohibitions. Lawmakers here and elsewhere, alarmed by events in California and
Massachusetts, are pursuing constitutional amendments, arguing that while laws can be overturned on appeal,
amendments provide a more resistant foil to judges who might find the law unconstitutional. "We cannot let
judges in Boston, or officials in San Francisco, define marriage for the people of Georgia," Representative
Bill Hembree, a Douglasville Republican and the amendment's sponsor, said in a speech to the chamber.
For Wage Law, Mixed Prospects in the Legislature
Source: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
Date: March 1, 2004
The main
sponsors of a bill to raise New York State's minimum wage said the State Assembly would approve a higher
minimum today, but they voiced fears that the effort would die in the Senate. The bill's backers argue that in
New York, which has one of the highest costs of living of any state, it is too difficult to support a family on
the state's $5.15-an-hour minimum wage, the same as that established by the federal government. In an
interview on Friday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver predicted that his chamber, which is controlled by the
Democrats, would easily pass a bill today setting New York's minimum wage at $7.10 an hour in January 2006.
Were the State Senate to follow suit, New York would be the 13th state with a minimum wage higher than the
federal level. "Making $5.15 an hour, you get to about $10,500 a year, and that's clearly inadequate for
somebody working full time,'' Mr. Silver said. "Even at $7.10, many workers would still be left in
poverty."
Source: Associated Press, New York Times
Date: September 24, 2003
Public colleges and school districts will be able to shun those who sell sporting goods made in sweatshops
even if the firms have the lowest bid under a bill Gov. George E. Pataki signed today. The law could add
millions of dollars of market pressure to the anti-sweatshop effort nationwide by diverting the sale of
footballs, soccer balls and other equipment, supporters said. The state passed similar bills in 2001 and 2002
that apply to clothing that school stores buy from wholesalers.
Workplace Smoking Ban Another Setback for Big Tobacco
Source: Joel Stashenko (AP), New York Journal News
Date: July 25, 2003
The statewide ban on smoking in public workplaces that went into effect yesterday
represents the latest setback in a long losing streak for big tobacco in New York state. Since 1999, Philip
Morris' chief representative in Albany was barred from lobbying, New York's cigarette tax has gone from 56
cents to $1.50 a pack, and the state has adopted a requirement that all manufacturers sell only cigarettes
wrapped in fire-retardant paper. The state has acted during a period of toughening national attitudes toward
smoking in general and the tobacco industry in particular
