In Upstate New York, immigrant dairy hands lobbied the state to amend its labor laws so people who milk cows could rely on the minimum wage and overtime. In Dallas, after an immigrant construction worker died of heat stroke, day laborers and non-union building trades workers persuaded the city to pass an ordinance requiring rest breaks. In Philadelphia and in other cities and states around the .
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A SEPTA bus approaches City Hall in a bus lane.(Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Philadelphia made headlines for passing a slate of worker protections laws between 2015 and 2021. The Office of Worker Protections oversees the enforcement of such laws, intended to give workers a heads up about their schedules, keep sick people from working, ensure domestic workers have paid time off, and to protect workers who speak up about COVID-19 conditions, among many other protections.
But, the office is too strapped to do its job, said city councilmembers and workers’ rights groups who are demanding more funding. The current staffing level allows employers to violate the laws with impunity, and cases to languish, according to low-wage workers who have had contact with the office.