Hunger strikers fear $2.1B in NYS aid for excluded workers won’t be enough

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Excluded essential workers had been on a hunger strike for 22 days when they headed up to Albany on April 6 for a last-minute appeal to secure $3.5 billion in relief funds in the New York state budget.

But in the deal struck between Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders Tuesday afternoon, all parties had agreed up on $2.1 billion in relief to undocumented workers who had not previously been eligible for any governmental assistance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.