To Read About Governor Pataki’s Leadership for New York’s Working Families, please choose: New Affordable Housing Opportunities

Fighting For New York’s Working Families

Governor Pataki has implemented the most extensive job training and retraining initiatives in New York State history — devoting tens of millions of State dollars to training unemployed workers and for skills upgrading.

• Governor Pataki enacted the first law in the nation for card check recognition, which allows workers to be represented by a union simply by cards saying they favor unionizing.
  
  
• Governor Pataki provided New Yorkers with an automatic cost of living adjustment for public sector retirees and enhanced benefits in all pension tiers.
  
  
• Governor Pataki raised the maximum weekly unemployment benefit by 35%, from $300 per week to $405 per week.
  
  
• Governor Pataki reformed the civil service system to more easily facilitate transfers, avoid layoffs of State employees in the face of budgetary difficulties, and enact early retirement incentives.
  
  
• Under Governor Pataki, New York State prohibits the use of State funds to train managers, supervisors or other administrative personnel in union avoidance methods.
  
  
• Governor Pataki increased enforcement of prevailing wage laws, resulting in the removal of over 200 contractors and the recovery of over $40 million in wages on behalf of 22,000 workers across the state.
  
  
• Under Governor Pataki, New York established a surcharge on construction contracts to fund the Department of Labor’s efforts to enforce Labor Laws.
  
  
• Governor Pataki cracked down on sweatshop abuses and signed various sweatshop enforcement or worker protection laws.
  
  
• Governor Pataki also issued an Executive Order requiring state agencies and authorities to consider the use of project labor agreements for construction projects.
  
  
• Governor Pataki’s Apparel Industry Task Force has conducted more than 9,000 investigations and collected nearly $9 million back wages, increasing the number of investigators and overall staffing by one-third.
  
  
• Governor Pataki secured the funding that will make it possible for more than 50,000 home care workers to earn a living wage.