Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a number of laws designed to strengthen and protect the state’s workforce

Buffalo, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul began her Labor Day press conference by quoting notable labor author Samuel Gompers, the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

“I was reflecting on what Samuel Gompers wrote,” Gov. Hochul said. “He was a strong advocate for making Labor Day a national holiday, and I was struck at what he said back then. He said ‘the struggle with labor is to free men — and I’m going to add women — free men and women from unfair, unjust, and unnecessarily cruel environments and burdens. Doesn’t that resonate today, too?”

One of the laws she announced was about speed zones in construction areas to protect workers.

“I was at the New York State Fair this week where I had the chance to hug a widow of a woman whose husband was doing nothing but his job on the highway, working for the Department of Transportation on the Thruway, and their lives were wiped out because of an accident,” Gov. Hochul said. “We celebrate them with a memorial, but we celebrate them every day by passing this legislation.”

Then the governor announced the law that is designed to fight against wage theft.

“There are people out there who take advantage of others and do not pay them what they’re entitled to in defiance of our laws,” Gov. Hochul said. In some cases, it’s a subcontractor on a project, but we need to have accountability and we need to make sure those people are paid.”

The governor also announced a law regarding shared work benefits.

“We talked about people who could get a part-time job to go back to, but if they took that job to go back, they lost their unemployment,” Gov. Hochul said. “People wanted to get back out there, but still didn’t have the same income before and we’re penalized. We’re going to fit it by lifting the cap on shared work benefits from a strict 26 weeks to an amount equal to 26 weeks’ worth of benefits. This means workers can be more flexible, whether they’re in the gig economy or so they can stay longer working for partial benefits. It’s good for our employers and it’s good for our workers.”

Another law the governor announced is to create prevailing wage laws for building service employees.

“We need to make sure we have prevailing wage laws to building service employees at our condos and co-ops who take advantage of tax breaks to put the buildings up in New York City,” Gov. Hochul said. “You ought to be paying your workers, particularly the office cleaners, a prevailing wage.”

Lastly, the governor announced legislation regarding workplace safety and health precautions.