BUILDING WORKER SOLIDARITY IN BROOKLYN

The labor movement is essential to the fight for justice in New York City: unions are why we have a 5 day work week, and child labor and worker  protection laws. They are on the front lines as we work to close racial and gender pay gaps, and prevent bias and discrimination against workers. But our city's labor movement faces serious threats from privatization and union-busting employers. In District 39, we've seen tough organizing fights from thrift-store workers organizing at the Housing Works store on 7th Avenue, to meat workers at Key Foods, who were locked out of the supermarket on 5th Avenue when they organized to protect their health coverage and push for livable wages.

Organized labor is deeply personal to Shahana. She was born and raised in Kensington, home to taxi, construction, and food delivery workers fighting for the expanded and guaranteed protections and unionization for all sectors. Shahana will  support workers from the picket line to City Hall. She will expand the City's investigations into labor abuse, fight against cuts to public sector jobs, and create green union jobs.

As Council Member, Shahana will...

+ Create a unionized green workforce

  • Launch a new Green Collar Jobs initiative, which will create union jobs focused on climate change mitigation in New York City.
    • Projects would be community-driven, and include wind and solar installations on community centers, retrofitting smaller and mid-sized buildings to be more energy efficient, tend to urban farms and community gardens in food deserts, & disaster preparedness on waterfronts and coastlines.
  • Develop job training programs that include:
    • Distance learning to accommodate parents, gig workers, and folks with mobility issues.
    • Language access for non-English speakers or those who are limited English proficient – through providing real time translators and interpreters through a new Citywide Interpretation Fund.
    • Soft and hard skill training.
    • Inclusive recruitment that pays close attention to those facing barriers to employment, like formerly incarcerated people.

+ Support union drives across New York City

  • Bring visibility to union drives by joining picket lines with organizers and community members, and put pressure on union-busting employers.
  • Host workshops on union organizing for constituents, sharing lessons learned from successful union fights within our District.
  • Pass legislation that will classify gig economy workers as employees rather than independent contractors to ensure such workers can receive benefits and support gig economy workers in unionizing.

+ Stand with domestic workers

  • Partner with organizations in the district that build domestic worker power, like Carroll Gardens Association and Hand in Hand, to host in-person workshops on domestic worker resources and organizing skills so that domestic workers are able to gather and organize.
  • Include domestic workers in the NYC Human Rights Law, and expand CM Lander’s “just cause” bill to protect all workers from termination without just cause.
  • Support efforts to help care workers unionize and receive better workplace support.
  • Fight for universal childcare – through capital investments in childcare facilities through the district, providing professional development for early childhood educators.

+ Expand right to counsel

  • Introduce legislation that provides right to counsel for employees of small businesses. Ensure that all employees, regardless of income and citizenship status, are guaranteed a right to an employment lawyer.
  • Pass Right to Counsel legislation for freelancers whose wage theft cases enter into court cases and use constituent services arm to connect gig economy workers and freelancers with legal counsel needed for any employment disputes.
  • Provide free legal counsel for undocumented workers. Partner outreach with local businesses and community based organizations to host Know Your Rights workshops for undocumented workers.

+ Strengthen workplace protections

  • Fight for COVID-19 worker protections, including adequate PPE, guaranteed sick leave for all workers (including those who need long term leave due to COVID-19), and protections for workers who’ve had COVID-19.
  • Work to strengthen the Freelance Isn’t Free Act (FIFA), which protects freelancers from wage theft. Help freelancers understand their protections under FIFA by expanding FIFA’s navigator program, which helps connect freelancers with resources, and hosting in-district workshops with the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) navigators. Push to expand FIFA’s protections against sexual harassment and discrimination.
  • Expand free workshare spaces in the city by investing in libraries, and community wifi for the city’s open spaces such as parks and plazas to ensure freelance workers have access to free places to work, rather than resorting to expensive and exclusionary co-working spaces.
  • Ensure there are better reporting mechanisms for City government workers to report sexual harassment and assault and to ensure that workers are not retaliated against for reporting.
  • Create an undocumented worker bill of rights, outlining rights and protections for undocumented workers:
    • Prevent employers from cooperating with ICE.
    • Provide employees resources and support to report employers who engage in verbal/sexual/physical harassment and discrimination.
  • Expand the New York Human Rights Law to protect workers from weight discrimination.

+ Safe and inclusive nightlife for all

  • Support the unionization of nightlife industry workers, including standing on the picket line with workers, organizing fellow Council Members to support union pushes, and amplifying union drives on social media to build community support.
  • Provide legal counsel in sexual harassment claims, and ensure that nightlife workers know their rights in getting relief for sexual harassment, including relief under the New York Human Rights Law and filing complaints with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP)
  • Host town halls with impacted nightlife workers and the DCWP about how the City can better protect nightlife workers from exploitation and foster a better work environment for workers, and create a set of recommendations.
  • Decriminalize sex work and create stronger workplace protections for sex workers, such as legal protections, access to contraceptives, and STI/STD testing.
  • End policing in nightlife, and instead find non-violent ways to promote safety for employees and patrons such as providing bystander intervention training for employees.
  • Work with the Department of Small Businesses to use a neighborhood median level of income rather than zip code median level of income when determining pandemic small business relief.
  • Provide PPE and cleaning resources to bars, nightclubs, and other nightlife venues.