Governor Katty Hochul has a complicated agenda to attend to, which includes nothing new requests related to health, child care, reproductive and maternal health, as well as equal pay and equity for all women and girls.
Recently, a coalition of organizations that defend women’s rights and elected leaders already spoke out loud, what should be the route of laws and the strong investments that must be approved in the next legislative session, to provide solutions to the female population. With an emphasis on women of color and immigrants, who suffer the most from labor imbalances and abuses.
“Young women, women of color, and women from across our state turned out to vote during the last general election. It is because of this mobilization that we never really saw a red wave,” said Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas, who represents parts of Queens.
Among the route of laws that the state agent must attend to, there are bills related to support for child care, salary equity, salary increase for child and domestic caregivers, protection of abortion, prohibition of the minimum wage through tips, and a norm to avoid the criminalization of black girls in schools.
“I join the call for the approval of this package, including two of my bills to end sub-minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers, also establish the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Fund which will ensure all women can get abortion care in the state of New York. It is time to show our feminine power”, reinforced González-Rojas.
Likewise, a bill that rests in the committee of the State Assembly establishes the mandatory nature of a minimum wage for workers in the industry categorized as “miscellaneous”, occupied mostly by women, as is the case of nail salons, hairdressers, beauticians, dog groomers, wedding planners, as well as other tasks performed more by men such as valets, tow truck drivers and goalkeepers.
For her part, Monifa Bandele, MomsRising’s strategy director recalled that New York is facing a crisis of child care and only significant state investment will create a strong financial foundation and enable families, businesses, and our economy to thrive.
“We hope Governor Hochul protects undocumented families, who strengthen our communities. May she invest in better maternal and reproductive health care. Plus that she ends the disparities that put so many black mothers and other mothers of color at risk. Our state will only succeed if we all have access to quality reproductive health care.”
After 227 years ago the state of New York elected its first female governor, so this The coalition warned at a rally held this Wednesday in Lower Manhattan that one could only speak of a “victory” if the president becomes a defender of a series of legal initiatives that in some cases have been discussed and ignored for years.
“With the rights of women in danger in Across the country, we must be a bulwark against domestic extremism and that is accomplished with anti-choice legislation by prioritizing passage of comprehensive child care, abortion protections, and equal pay. At the next session, we look forward to doing all we can to raise the voices of women and girls in the halls of Albany and across our state,” exclaimed Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal.
On October 1, a wage increase went into effect that adds $2 per hour to the income of home care workers, but This “symbolic conquest” has been described as a “mockery” by a labor mass, which through a law, aspires to an adjustment of 227% of your salary in the coming months.
The Puerto Rican domestic caregiver iqueña, Margarita Pillot with 30 years in this sector joined the demands of New York women. In her case, she considers it a priority to promote an emergency review of her salary reality.
“That increase of $2 is really insignificant, where everyone has increased the rent. The governor herself in the future is going to need the service that we offer”, asserted the islander.
The home care workers, mostly immigrant women of color, have been abandoning their jobs, due to that even fast food chains offer better payments.
“Our work is vital to New York families. It is not a small thing to have trustworthy people who are in charge of the care, the cleaning of our elderly, who do not want to be taken to a nursing home. We must reflect on the importance of our work”, stressed Margarita.
The same demand is made by the Puerto Rican Vicenta Alvarez, who has 19 years as ‘home attendat’, aspiring to better remunerations.
“Our goal is to rise to 11,25 The time. That leads us to earn at least $700 a week which is still very little. Who lives in New York with that amount? he asked himself.
The same request of the home workers, they have the one of another sector occupied almost in a 100% by women, they are workers in day care centers and other centers childcare. For this group, they are fighting for a short-term worker’s compensation fund, to increase their salaries by at least $11,500 per year, while build a long-term solution.
The group of legislators and spokespersons for community organizations agree that as the economy is rebuilt from the effects of the COVID-11, attention should be paid to the lessons that emerged about the importance of women’s work and the value of the economy of the watch out.
“We must ensure that all workers receive the compensation they need to support themselves and their families. I look forward to working with advocates and my colleagues in the next session to achieve those goals,” said State Senator Shelley Mayer.
Furthermore, the vision of Beverly Neufeld, president of PowHer New York, is that another giant step must be taken: Stop discrimination by enacting the New York State Salary Range Bill, which proposes that job applicants have salary information at the beginning of the hiring process, to avoid bias in hiring. setting wages and creating equity for economic security.
“Already at this time, women in some companies are still paid less than men, due to a gender issue. We have to end this backward view of the world. We demand an equal payment”, highlighted the home care worker Vicenta Alvarez.
Among the group of legal bills that the governor will insistently be reminded of for her approval, a law called ‘Solutions not Suspensions’, which would change the disciplinary code of the Department of Education to prevent children from being punished with suspensions in schools for disciplinary problems.
A report by the New York Civil Liberties Union notes that children who are suspended are “more likely to drop out of high school, commit a crime, and be incarcerated as Adults”.
The report also states that children of color are twice as likely to be suspended.
The bill also known as Judith Kaye School Solutions promotes proven methods that hold students accountable and help them learn from their mistakes, while keeping them in the classroom.
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This legislative idea has been “frozen” in both legislative chambers for seven years.
In detail: What are the requests?
- 20221122Fully fund reproductive justice and maternal care through of the Fund for Reproductive Equity and Freedom 20221122
- Approve the New York State wage range without amendments
- 20221122 Promote equal pay for contractors 20221122
- End Subminimum Wage with Tips
- 20221122Make attendance for child care is available to parents who work variable and part-time hours 20221122
- Approve Child Care Eligibility of 24 months.
- Establish a short-term workers’ compensation fund to increase the wages of workers of child care in at least $11,552/year while a long-term solution is built
- 20221122 Provide child care assistance to all immigrant families.20221122
- End the Criminalization of Black Girls