Protesters and labor unions from Queens and throughout New York Metropolis rallied close to Metropolis Corridor on March 8, Worldwide Girls’s Day, demanding the Metropolis Council cease delaying the passage of the No Extra 24 Act, which might ban the 24-hour workday that disproportionately impacts girls working in residence well being care.
If the invoice isn’t handed by March 18 — two days from now — members of the Coalition to Battle for Our Well being and Lives stated they might arrange every day sit-ins at Metropolis Corridor till it’s handed.
“Every day you delay is another day we women workers suffer,” one protester stated. “We have permanently lost our health, and no amount of money can buy it back. Some of our sisters have already passed away. The 24-hour workday must stop immediately.”
The following Metropolis Council assembly might be held on March 26, making that the earliest potential date for the invoice to be handed.
Beneath New York State legislation, it’s authorized for employers to solely pay wages for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, claiming the unpaid hours for sleep and meal breaks. Nevertheless, residence care employees on the protest stated these breaks don’t exist, and plenty of are pressured to endure sleepless nights to look after sufferers.
Based on Legistar, the invoice is presently laid over within the Committee on Civil Service and Labor, though Councilman Christopher Marte initially launched variations of the invoice in 2022 and 2024 that by no means made it to a vote.
As of press time, there’s no listed date as to when this model of the invoice could be voted on as a result of the invoice’s remaining language remains to be being negotiated between the committee and a consultant from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s workplace.
As soon as the invoice is aged — which means the language is finalized — the invoice might be positioned on all councilmembers’ desks to be reviewed for at the least one week earlier than the Metropolis Council can vote on it and, subsequently, the mayor can signal it.
Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Mamdani’s workplace stated the mayor’s authorized workforce is working to handle authorized issues within the invoice’s language that might depart employees susceptible.
Nonetheless, Mamdani stated he’s dedicated to working alongside residence care employees, the council and the state authorities to go stronger protections that enhance working situations for caregivers.
Protesters emphasised the lethal toll of 24-hour workdays on employees — particularly girls — who stated they undergo from sleep deprivation and carry out bodily laborious duties with no ample breaks for relaxation.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
Nevertheless, protesters stated whereas employees maintain ready for its passage, the 24-hour work day continues to take a lethal toll on residence care aides — particularly girls, who make up 89% of the NYC residence care workforce.
In addition they accused Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Speaker Adrienne Adams — operating mates on this 12 months’s gubernatorial election — of abusing their energy to line the pockets of medical insurance firms on the expense of ladies’s well being.
“It is the tradition of Sojourner Truth, who stood in front of a hostile crowd and asked a question that still echoes today — ‘Ain’t I a woman?’” stated Renee Keitt, president of the NYCHA Elliot-Chelsea Homes tenants affiliation. “She was asking the world to recognize the humanity and labor of women who were ignored, exploited and erased. We are the women who are often so invisible in the politics of this city, but whose labor makes this city possible.”
As of press time, the Workplace of the Governor didn’t reply to requests for remark from both Hochul or Adams.
Members of a number of labor unions attended the protest — together with the Chinese language Workers and Employees Affiliation, Feminist Technology Flushing, Flushing Employees Heart, Well being Justice for NY, NY Progressive Motion Community, Queens Anti-On line casino, and Working Individuals for Well being.
What are the challenges confronted by residence care aides?
Protesters marched in assist of residence care employees, shouting chants demanding no extra delays to the No Extra 24 Act.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
Based on a report by the Metropolis Council Labor Committee, not solely are a majority of residence care employees girls, however 59% of them are individuals of colour.
The beginning wage for residence care employees is simply over $36,000, and the skilled wage is slightly below $43,000.
The report factors out that the estimated true value of dwelling in New York Metropolis for a single grownup is between $46,000 and $76,000, relying on the borough.
About 15% of residence care employees reside in poverty.
“Stop the displacement,” protesters chanted on March 8, mentioning that when wages don’t sustain with value of dwelling, many of those important employees within the rising business are priced out of town.
Based on state legislation, the 24-hour workday excludes 11 hours for sleep and meal breaks from compensable hours for residence care staff assigned to 24-hour shifts, offered that the house care employee has uninterrupted 5 hours of sleep and three hours of mealtime. That is sometimes called the “13-hour rule.”
“The court reasoned that an employee who was on a meal or sleep break, even if they were present at the care recipient’s home, was considered ‘unavailable for work,’” the labor committee report explains. “Thereby, [it is] excluded from billing for such uninterrupted time.”
Whereas the report states that the median age of residence care aides is about 49 years outdated, a Journal of the American Medical Affiliation Community examine discovered that employees who have been “providing care and experiencing caregiver strain” had mortality dangers 63% greater than these of non-caregiving members.
A protester recounts her personal expertise as a house care employee, saying it led to persistent ache and medical situations that stem from inhumane working situations.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
One healthcare employee on the protest stated she endured eight years of 24-hour shifts, lifting a 160-pound senior onto the bathroom and their wheelchair, turning their physique each two hours within the night time.
She stated her work precipitated persistent insomnia, osteoporosis, joint injury, shoulder and nerve ache, declining eyesight, cramps and crooked fingers.
“The 24-hour workday is a chronic murder of hundreds of women,” a protester stated, who referred to as it a modern-day slavery system. “Everyone acknowledges that the 24-hour shift is wrong and inhumane. When workers are brutalized, our patients can’t get the good quality care they need.”
What’s included within the No Extra 24 Act?
Protesters held indicators that outlined their calls for, together with the passage of the No Extra 24 Act.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
A abstract of the No Extra 24 Act — which was reintroduced by Marte on Jan. 29 from earlier variations in 2022 and 2024 — states that it might amend the executive code of town of New York in relation to most working hours for residence care aides.
The invoice states that assigned hours to residence care employees could be restricted to 12 hours for any shift, or inside any 24-hour interval.
Whereas a house care aide could possibly be assigned extra hours in an emergency, the invoice would restrict them to not more than 2 hours per day or 10 hours per week.
A house care aide could possibly be assigned to work greater than 56 hours in per week, however the invoice would require the employer to offer 2 weeks’ superior discover and procure written consent from the house care aide with a view to try this.
On Feb. 18, a public listening to was held within the labor committee throughout which group organizers, employees, council members and a member of the mayoral administration had the chance to testify.
Councilman Christopher Marte — who launched variations of the No Extra 24 Act in 2022, 2024 and January of this 12 months — accused former Speaker Adams of blocking the invoice’s passage.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
On the March 8 protest, Marte claimed former Speaker Adams refused to push ahead the No Extra 24 Act, and that Hochul, who has been in workplace for over 5 years, has nonetheless not labored to finish the 24-hour work day throughout the state.
He stated the protest was not only a celebration of ladies and employees — it was a name to motion.
“We’re living in a society where we’re only asking for crumbs — we’re asking for the bare minimum,” Marte stated. “We’re asking for dignity. We’re asking to make sure that New Yorkers can stay here.”
Why are protesters blaming Hochul and Adams?
Protesters referred to as on voters to reject Hochul and Adams within the governor’s race, claiming they don’t shield girls’s or employee’s rights.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
Protesters accused Hochul and Adams of blocking the invoice and failing to implement labor legislation.
Whereas the No Extra 24-Hour Workday Act is a city-wide proposal, protesters stated Hochul has fueled the 24-hour workday throughout the state.
“These women sit on thrones cushioned by the insurance companies, sweatshops, and other politicians they collude with,” one protester stated. “They ignore the blood, sweat, and tears of the working people they claim to serve time and time again. Progressive faces in high places sell our health and livelihood to the highest bidder.”
Their criticisms stem from a Nov. 14 case filed by Roberta Reardon, commissioner of the New York State Division of Labor, that appealed an Albany County Supreme Court docket choice reopening lots of of wage theft instances that had been closed by the DOL.
Based on documentation concerning the case, Reardon filed an enchantment within the state’s appellate court docket to reverse the court docket choice made on Oct. 9, 2024, which annulled the DOL’s willpower to “discontinue investigations of complaints for underpayment of wages submitted by home care aides whose unions had either obtained relief or were pursuing claims for relief on their behalf.”
The gang of protesters held indicators claiming Hochul and Adams have perpetuated the 24-hour work day.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
The unique case — filed in 2019 by Gui Zhu Chen, Ya Yun Li, Maria Rodriguez, Gui Hua Tune and Chun Feng Zhuang — particularly references the Chinese language-American Planning Council (CPC) Residence Aide Program and the First Chinese language Presbyterian Residence Well being Company, which employees claimed are violating the legislation and sued for stolen wages.
Hochul has commonly awarded funds to the CPC and referred to as it “a social services organization that creates positive social change” in 2022, three years after the DOL grew to become conscious that 1199SEIU had filed grievances in opposition to the employer on behalf of residence care aides.
Employees additionally protested in opposition to Hochul for partnering with the CPC for the New York’s Client Directed Private Help Program in 2024.
“This must end now,” the protester continued. “We all deserve healthcare regardless of where and what hours we work. We call on all working people not only to condemn Kathy Hochul and Adrienne Adams, but to unite against the destruction of our health under these crushing policies.”
What do employees demand from Mayor Mamdani?
Protesters demanded Mamdani cease delaying the passage of the No Extra 24 Act and full negotiations with the New York Metropolis Council to cease the struggling of residence care employees.Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
Whereas coalition members stated they’re conscious of the method it might take to go the legislation earlier than it arrives on Mamdani’s desk to be signed, they referred to as on the mayor to complete negotiations with the labor committee and urge finalization of the language so it may be voted on instantly.
Protesters stated they’re bored with the delays and demanded Mamdani — who stated he has at all times stood with residence care employees of their struggle for dignity, honest wages, dependable hours and respect — to maintain his marketing campaign promise to residence care employees.
“What [is Mamdani] still waiting for?” one protester requested. “Do you want to collude with Governor Hochul and keep tormenting us women?”
A spokesperson from Mamdani’s workforce wrote to QNS on March 11, emphasizing that the mayor can’t signal the invoice till it makes it by way of the Metropolis Council.
Nevertheless, he identified that Mamdani has lengthy supported residence care employees and even attended a December 2024 rally demanding the return of stolen wages to those employees.
“Home health aides show up for New Yorkers every single day, caring for our parents and loved ones,” the spokesperson wrote. “But the workforce that sustains our care system — predominantly women of color and immigrants — is too often asked to perform this vital labor without the fair pay and stable schedules they deserve.”
Picture by Renee DeLorenzo 
Picture by Renee DeLorenzo 
Picture by Renee DeLorenzo 
Picture by Renee DeLorenzo 
Picture by Renee DeLorenzo
