NEWS ADVISORY

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2012

67th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

CONTACT: Nicholas Smith, 212-873-6368 or 347-471-5841 smithn@assembly.state.ny.us

ASSEMBLYMEMBER LINDA B. ROSENTHAL RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER MAYOR BLOOMBERG VETOES PREVAILING WAGE BILL
New York, NY Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) released the following statement after Mayor Bloomberg vetoed a proposal that would have established a prevailing wage for service workers, including janitors, in New York City. If adopted, the legislation would have required employers located in buildings where the City is a major tenant or employers that receive City subsidies to increase pay of service workers. Pay increases for these workers would be determined by the New York City Comptrollers office. STATEMENT FROM ASSEMBLYMEMBER LINDA B. ROSENTHAL I am disappointed but not surprised that the Bloomberg administration has vetoed the prevailing wage legislation, which if adopted, would systematically lift scores of New Yorkers out of poverty and into the mainstream of our society. By vetoing this legislation, the administration has turned a blind-eye to the suffering of New York residents who are in desperate need of wage-relief and continue to feel left out of the mainstream of this City. These employees continue to experience the effects of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The Mayor called this legislation a throwback and that instead of increasing wages, the City should cultivate corporations as one would cultivate a garden. Workers in this City do not need a proverbial garden, they need well-paying jobs. This veto represents a throwback to an era when workers were forced to work 12-hour days for nothing but pennies, were not paid for overtime work and when employees had no prayer of collectively bargaining for rights that many take for granted today. As the City Council passed this bill by an overwhelming margin, I look forward to its override of this veto, so this law can provide much-needed relief to the New Yorkers who need it the most. Assemblymember Rosenthal represents the 67th Assembly district, which includes the Upper West Side and parts of Clinton/Hells Kitchen in Manhattan. ###

DISTRICT OFFICE 230 West 72nd Street, Suite 2F, New York, NY 10023 TEL (212) 873-6368 FAX (212) 873-6520 ALBANY OFFICE 741 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 TEL (518) 455-5802 FAX (518) 455-5015