PRESS RELEASE 

IMMIGRANT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS CELEBRATE PASSAGE OF INTRO 1447-C.

NICE members held a candlelight vigil in memory of fallen workers as the vote took place.

NICE members shared their testimony in a rally before the city council vote on Intro 1447-c.

Councilmembers Carlos Menchaca and Helen Rosenthal join NICE members to rally for increased worker protections. 

NICE's executive director, Manuel Castro, talks about the need to make sure we are listening to the voices of immigrant workers to develop solutions that protect them.   

While we celebrate the passage of Intro 1447-C, we also urge the City Council and Administration to continue to create better regulatory mechanisms that ensure worker safety at construction sites and hold construction contractors accountable for violations. In addition, the city must create a fund to ensure that non-union and immigrant workers have access to trainings at low and no cost. This is a necessary step in ensuring that every construction worker in New York is properly trained in safety protocol. Additionally, resources must be made readily available and in a timely manner to organizations that train non-union and immigrant workers. 

We applaud the Council for passing Intro 1447-C and look forward to working with the city to ensure the effective implementation of this bill and to ensure the taskforce being formed to fully implement this bill reflects workers most impacted by construction accidents. In New York City, fatal construction accidents disproportionately and overwhelmingly affect immigrant, Latino, and non-union workers. 

We thank the City Council, and specifically Councilmembers Carlos Menchaca, Councilmember Jumaane Williams, Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and their staff.

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New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) is a community-based organization that works to ensure that new immigrants can build social, political, and economic power in their communities and beyond