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“Passing a law is only the beginning. A right you can’t access is not really a right. A protection you don’t know exists cannot protect you. And a violation that never gets reported is unlikely to be enforced.”
Last year, New York City did something remarkable. The City Council, together with workers in some of our city’s most essential yet least protected industries, passed some of the most significant labor protections in the nation.
Delivery workers won protections against unjust algorithmic firings, stronger pay transparency requirements, and expanded minimum pay standards. Street vendors secured reforms that will finally create a pathway for thousands of small business owners to operate legally. Together, these laws promise greater economic stability, fairer workplaces, and new opportunities for workers who have spent years excluded from basic protections. In total, lawmakers passed 11 bills—a significant expenditure of political capital.
But passing a law is only the beginning. A right you can’t access is not really a right. A protection you don’t know exists cannot protect you. And a violation that never gets reported is unlikely to be enforced. That is why the next chapter of worker justice in New York is not just about passing new laws. It is about making the laws we already passed real by funding the outreach, education, and support workers need to understand and uphold their rights.
For years, New Yorkers have relied on delivery workers to bring food to our homes, street vendors to feed our neighborhoods, and laundry workers to keep hospitals, hotels, and businesses running. During the pandemic, we called these workers essential. They showed up when the city needed them most. Yet many continued to work without basic protections that most workers take for granted.
They organized. They spoke out. They won. Now we have a responsibility to ensure those victories do not remain words on paper.
The workers who kept this city running should not have to fight alone to access the rights they already won.
That is why we are calling on New York City to invest $5 million in a Worker Rights Organizing and Education Initiative. This initiative would support trusted community organizations to help workers understand their rights, identify violations, and connect with the agencies responsible for enforcing the law.
This is not simply an investment in outreach. It is an investment in enforcement.
The reality is that government agencies cannot be everywhere at once. They depend on workers coming forward when violations occur. But workers are far more likely to report abuses when they understand their rights and have trusted organizations in their communities that can help them navigate the process.
Organizations like Worker’s Justice Project, Street Vendor Project, Laundry Workers Center, and Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) have spent years building relationships in communities that are often overlooked by traditional institutions. They speak workers’ languages. They understand their industries. Most importantly, they have earned workers’ trust.
For a fraction of the city budget, we can ensure that billions of dollars in wages, protections, and economic opportunity actually reach the workers these laws were designed to help.
This is not just a matter of fairness. It is a matter of effective government. When workers understand their rights, violations are identified more quickly, enforcement becomes more effective, and responsible employers are no longer forced to compete against those who break the law.
These workers stepped out of the shadows to win historic rights. The next step is making sure those rights work in practice.
The measure of our commitment to worker justice is not how many laws we pass. It is whether those laws actually improve people’s lives. New York has already shown that it has the courage to stand by these workers. Let’s finish what we started by funding the education and support workers need to ensure they can finally benefit from the rights they fought for.
Councilmember Harvey Epstein represents New York City’s 2nd District. Councilmember Pierina Sanchez represents the city’s 14th District.