LABOR

 

Vittoria has joined the fight on behalf of home healthcare workers in Chinatown to end 24-hour shifts and wage theft. She persuaded the Downtown Independent Democrats to write a resolution in support of the workers that included demanding that New York State withhold funds from the agencies exploiting these workers, and calling on the Attorney General to open an investigation into wage theft by the agencies. 

 

Once in the  State Senate, Vittoria plans to write and pass new state legislation to prevent agencies that contract with the state from exploiting their workers, as has happened with the home healthcare workers who have been forced to work 24-hour shifts while only being paid for 13 of those hours.  She will also introduce a bill to prohibit labor disputes from being removed from courts and forced into arbitration without full consent and explicit consent of the workers. 

 

Wage theft and freelancer protections should be extended statewide. Vittoria supports the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” for New York State, which would give freelancers the right to a written contract, timely payment for their work, freedom from retaliation for asserting their rights under the law. The law would also establish criminal penalties for employers who do not comply.

 

Vittoria also supports the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft bill (SWEAT) to enforce and ease the recovery of stolen wages. 

 

Vittoria supports the rights of workers to unionize and applauds the recent victory of Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island.  She supports other unionizing efforts in the private sector, such as by some Starbucks employees in New York State and New York City. She recognizes that although New York State has the second highest rate of union membership in the country, 22.2%, far more New Yorkers could have economic security if allowed to join in union with other workers.