ALBANY – In response to the release of the New York State Assembly and Senate FY24 one-house budget resolutions, the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition released the following statement from Nishat Tabassum, Coalition Manager: 

“For decades, excluded workers have been systematically cut out of our country’s safety net, even though their labor contributes millions to our economy and funds the social services other workers can access when times get hard.

We applaud Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for recognizing the value of their labor by supporting a pathway to help excluded workers access unemployment support. The Governor and Assembly must follow the Senate’s lead in this critical time. Fifteen unions, dozens of religious leaders, and thousands of community members and workers have pushed to end these exclusions. Now is the time to create a 21st century solution to our deeply flawed unemployment insurance system, including making benefits available to more workers.

Our safety net is badly out of step with our current economy, which is increasingly powered by the work of excluded workers. Every day, more and more workers become “excluded” as more full-time jobs turn into contract jobs. Yet excluded workers continue to be shut out of the same safety net support that other workers can get access to. And hundreds of thousands of workers can’t get access to the safety net simply because of their immigration status or for serving time.

Perpetuating exclusions not only hurts excluded workers themselves. It hurts our state as a whole. The pandemic taught us that when we leave some people out, we all pay a price. And with banks failing and economic storm clouds on the horizon, the next crisis could be just around the corner.

Unemployment insurance is about more than just a paycheck. It is an essential labor right that helps workers stand up to bad employers on the job without worrying they’ll lose everything if they do. By keeping workers unprotected, we let the worst employers in the state drag down labor standards for the rest of us.

Expanding safety net access also makes us more prepared for the next hit on our economy. New York needed to scramble to pass the Excluded Workers Fund during the pandemic, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers with nothing for months – and exacerbating the full toll of the pandemic. Rather than scrambling the next time a crisis hits, we need a permanent backstop in place so we’re prepared well beforehand.

Excluded workers won’t be slowed down easily. We have gone on hunger strike, crossed bridges, and marched across the state. We will continue fighting for the justice excluded workers deserve until all workers are excluded no more.”