Looking to crack down on wage theft and other forms of exploitation, the City Council passed legislation on last week creating an Immigrant Workers Bill of Rights., said the measure was partly designed to protect asylum-seekers who have received their work papers and are now entering the city’s workforce.
“For 22 months as mayor and years before, Mayor Adams has stood up for immigrant workers and all blue-collar New Yorkers – fighting for better pay and working conditions for the city’s 60,000 Deliveristas and for the rights for tens of thousands of new arrivals to work and provide for their families,” said the spokesperson, Amaris Cockfield, in a prepared statement.
Hanif said the legislation was informed by the experiences of people such as her father, who arrived in this country as an undocumented immigrant from Bangladesh. “We see workers being paid lower cash wages than was agreed upon and a lack of worker safety and protections provided,” she told Gothamist. “The worst part is that these individuals feel they have nowhere to turn because of their status. All workers have rights and it’s our duty as a city to guarantee them.”