The NY HERO Act is the first-in-the-nation permanent airborne infectious disease standard that protects and empowers workers from COVID-19 and whatever may come next. The NY HERO Act consists of two components: the creation of an airborne infectious disease standard that employers must adhere to and the ability for workers to form workplace safety committees.
The NY HERO Act is built by the voices of workers and their communities.
The NY Essential Workers Coalition includes unions, worker centers, immigrant rights organizations, legal service providers, health and safety organizations, and community-based organizations. Together, we saw that working people were denied the basic right to a safe and healthy workplace, and we built a statewide movement to protect our NY heroes—the essential workers on the front lines of the health crisis. After a year-long fight, the coalition celebrated a monumental victory in 2021 with the signing of the NY HERO Act into law, enshrining a worker-led vision of health and safety for our communities.
Enforceable standards, not just guidelines.
NY HERO ensures that workers, communities, and businesses are protected by providing protocols on testing, face masks, PPE, social distancing, hand hygiene, disinfection, and engineering controls. We need standards, not just guidelines, to ensure that our communities are safe.
A stronger voice in the workplace.
Workplaces with 10+ employees may form a worker committee to address any health and safety issues on the job. For more information about how to form a committee, see the Know Your Rights materials below.
Holding dangerous workplaces accountable.
Strong penalties and enforcement mechanisms will lead to increased compliance and lower the transmission rates of COVID-19, which in turn will boost consumer confidence in the economy. We can’t let a single dangerous workplace trigger community shutdowns. Strong enforcement levels the playing field for businesses that do comply with the law
NY HERO Know Your Rights
NY HERO ACT Endorsers
1199 SEIU
9/11 Environmental Action
ACT UP
Adhikaar
AFCSME DC 37
African Communities Together
Alianza Agricola
ALIGN-NY
BK Rot
Center For Food Safety
Citizen Action of New York
Community Food Advocates
CWA District 1
DRUM-Desis Rising up and Moving
Environmental Advocates of New York
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Friends of the Earth
FWD.us
GAPIMNY
HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance
Housing Justice for All
IBT Local 813
Jew for Racial Economic Justice
Jobs with Justice
Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future
Kinetic Communities
Laundry Workers Center
Legal Aid Society
Long Island Jobs with Justice
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Make the Road New York
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Employment Law Project
New York City Central Labor Council
New York Civil Liberties Union
New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health
New York Communities for Change
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York State AFL-CIO
New York State Nurses Association
New York Working Families
Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson
NY Nail Salon Workers Association
NY NJ Regional Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU
Partnership for Working Families
People Climate Movement
Public Justice
Push Buffalo
Queens Climate Project
Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union
Sierra Club
Street Vendor Project, Urban Justice Center
Strong Economy for all Coalition
Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network
Teamsters Joint Council 16
Tech Workers Coalition
Tompkins County Worker Center
TREEage
UAW Region 9A
Union of Concerned Scientists
UFCW Local 2013
Vocal-NY
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health
West Side Campaign Against Hunger
Worker Justice Center of NY
Workers Center of Central New York
Workplace Project