Hi friends,
It’s been another challenging week on earth AND trees are blooming, birds are singing, and we are here.
A new rule will allow the Dreamers, those enrolled in the DACA program, to obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Although the Dreamers — who came to the US as children and are shielded from deportation — are permitted to work and study in the US, they were not previously eligible for subsidized health care.
UAW negotiated 25 percent wage increases for more than 7,300 workers at the Daimler Truck. The negotiation averted a strike affects workers at six plants in the South.
A new rule from the Department of Labor will provide better overtime protections for roughly 4.3 million salaried workers. The rule updates a salary cap from $35,568 annual pay to $58,656, in two stages and protects workers from being forced to work 60+ hours a week for no more pay than if they worked 40 hours.
Beginning this July, workers with annual earnings of up to $43,888 will be eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week, even if they are supervisors or managers. The cap rises again in January 2025, and will be automatically updated every three years.
The final rule will result in a transfer of $1.5 billion annually from employers to workers in increased pay.
In addition to increasing pay for many workers, the overtime rule will also reduce excessive hours of unpaid work.
Under New York’s existing labor laws, low-wage workers often struggle to find lawyers to take their cases, or wait years to have their cases investigated by the state, because their damages are lower than the cost of going to court. With the addition of EMPIRE’s civil penalties, cases for low-wage workers will become more economically viable to prosecute. Moreover, unions would be newly able to enforce the labor law’s protections – both for members and non-members.
Tell your legislators to pass the EmPIRE Worker Protection Act!
There’s a clean-up tomorrow is to keep trash out of New York Bay and the Hudson and East Rivers. The sponsors note that Erie Basin Park
will be participating in the Comprehensive Data Collection Initiative (CDCI) - an ongoing Riverkeeper Sweep project that provides a detailed look at the type of trash found in and around the Hudson and its tributaries. Data gained from this initiative will help people understand the effectiveness of waste reduction laws such as the plastic bag ban.
Join BKSWAB and Riverkeeper to participate in a clean-up of Erie Basin Park in Red Hook.
I’m keeping it short today because the day got away from me and I’m heading to Washington Square Park for Solidarity Shabbat:
with love,
L