Peralta pushes law to protect construction workers

While the family of the 21st worker killed in a construction-related accident in the city this year considers a lawsuit against the city, Queens Assemblymember Jose Peralta will introduce legislation to increase training and safety requirements that he hopes will prevent future tragedies.
Peralta stood with the widow and seven-year-old son of Corona construction worker Miguel Rodriguez, who was killed on September 11 of this year when he fell from a Manhattan construction site when his harness was not tethered to the building, calling for more education and training for construction workers.
“This is the result of unscrupulous contractors that don’t care about anything except the bottom line, the almighty dollar,” Peralta said on Thursday, September 25. “These contractors that are unregulated and could care less about accountability and responsibility. And, why should they because the current law doesn’t say that they need to.”
Peralta’s new legislation will require that all public and private contractors doing business in New York State in construction, reconstruction or repair work worth more than $250,000 provide at least 10 hours in training of construction safety and health courses approved by the U.S. Department of Labor and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Currently, the law only requires contractors working on public projects to provide this training.
“We want to put some teeth to this legislation because we want to avoid any future deaths,” said Peralta, referring to heavy fines and penalties contractors could face if they are in violation of the proposed legislation.
Of the 21 construction-related casualties in the city this year, 17 of those workers have been undocumented workers. Oscar Paredes, Executive Director of the Latin American Worker’s Project, who has been fighting for increased training and better working conditions for day laborers throughout the city, said that these tragedies have to stop.
“We don’t want more workers to pass away,” Paredes said. “Twenty-one is too much.”
Miguel Rodriguez’s wife Berta and son Kevin, 7, stood with Peralta during the announcement as Kevin clutched a picture of his father and Berta fought back tears as she spoke a few words about her husband.
“He was an excellent father who supported us and now he’s gone,” Berta said through a translator.
Peralta’s office is working on a fundraiser to help the family pay for the funeral costs, and that will take place on October 4 at 8 p.m. at the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly Corona Senior Center on 108-74 Roosevelt Avenue in Corona. In addition, donations for a college fund for Kevin Rodriguez can be made by checks payable to the College Bound Fund with the memo line saying Kevin A. Rodriguez. Donations can be mailed to Peralta’s office at 82-11 37th Avenue, Suite 709A, Jackson Heights, NY 11368.
“I understand that this new bill is not going to bring Miguel back, but it can help the lives of anyone in the future because they will have the appropriate safety training,” Peralta said.