Overview:
The New York Metropolis Council accepted the Aland Etienne Security and Safety Act, landmark laws that establishes wage, profit and paid day without work requirements for personal safety officers citywide. The invoice, named after a union safety guard killed throughout a July mass taking pictures in Midtown Manhattan, now heads to Mayor Eric Adams’ desk.
The New York Metropolis Council has accepted landmark laws setting new wage, profit and paid day without work requirements for town’s non-public safety officers, a workforce that leaders say performs a rising position in public security whereas typically missing primary protections.
The Aland Etienne Safety and Security Act, handed Thursday, establishes industrywide compensation requirements for roughly 81,900 non-public safety officers throughout town. The invoice now heads to Mayor Eric Adams’ desk for signature.
The laws is known as for Aland Etienne, a safety officer and member of 32BJ SEIU who was killed whereas attempting to avoid wasting lives throughout a July mass taking pictures at 345 Park Ave. His household supported the invoice, which lawmakers mentioned honors Etienne’s legacy by enhancing situations for frontline employees.
“Regardless of placing their lives on the road to maintain our metropolis secure, safety officers have been missed for too lengthy,” Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ SEIU, mentioned in an announcement. “The Aland Etienne Security and Safety Act will guarantee every safety officer can earn a dwelling wage, entry reasonably priced well being care and take day without work to recuperate.”
Underneath the legislation, compensation requirements will likely be phased in over three years. Within the first yr, safety officers have to be paid wages no decrease than these earned by non-public safety guards engaged on metropolis contracts, presently starting from $18.02 to $21.20 an hour, relying on expertise and coaching. Within the second yr, employers should present paid day without work corresponding to city-contracted safety officers. By the third yr, employers should provide a advantages complement that may be offered as well being advantages, money or a mix of each.
Earlier variations of the invoice included extra coaching necessities, however lawmakers in the end selected to keep up current state coaching requirements.
Supporters mentioned the laws addresses a extreme turnover disaster within the trade. Safety officers in New York Metropolis earn a median revenue of $40,311, in accordance with a UC Berkeley Labor Heart report, and practically 38% lack medical health insurance via their employer or a family member.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who sponsored the invoice, mentioned the measure displays town’s duty to guard these tasked with defending others.
“Right this moment’s invoice passage is proof this Council will all the time stand for the front-line employees who’re all too typically left behind,” Councilmember Crystal Hudson mentioned in an announcement. “Each safety employee may have sturdy office protections and a accomplice in authorities to carry their employers accountable.”
The safety workforce in New York Metropolis is overwhelmingly made up of individuals of coloration, with Black employees accounting for roughly half of all guards. Greater than 44% have been born exterior america, in accordance with the Berkeley report.
Advocates mentioned the legislation may function a nationwide mannequin for enhancing requirements in a sector that has expanded as cities more and more depend on non-public safety personnel in public and business areas.
“This can be a monumental victory for employees who defend New Yorkers each day,” Theodore A. Moore, govt director of ALIGN, mentioned in an announcement. “It sends a transparent message that elevating wages and advantages is important to public security.”
With the passage of the invoice, supporters mentioned they may now deal with implementation and enforcement to make sure that the brand new requirements attain employees throughout town.