After a year-long campaign which culminated in a 23-day hunger strike, excluded workers from across Queens including street vendors, construction workers, laundry and delivery workers, among others who were left out of state and federal COVID relief. are now eligible for retroactive payments to reflect an entire year without work during the pandemic.
Lawmakers approved the first-in-the-nation $2.1 billion excluded workers fund as part of the state budget agreement last week.
“This fight, this win, is a win for all of the working people. For all of my people who have struggled to survive through this last year, who have organized through loss, through fear, through hunger to demand New York State recognize and support us,I am so proud to have been a part of this amazing group of leaders, of immigrant women, of mothers who’ve fought for change,” hunger striker Eliana Jaramillo said. “With this fund, I can finally pay the debts I owe for the death of my two siblings from COVID. I can honor their lives in a dignified way. And I will keep fighting with my whole body for the rights for all workers, for street vendors, for our state to know that we are here and we are essential, and to never exclude us again.”
