Local 66 Is Working to Keep You Employed and Safe

Brothers and Sisters,

I hope you all had a safe holiday this past week as we continue to live through the COVID-19 lockdown. While it has been a challenging month since construction was removed from the essential services list, I want you all to know that your union has remained open to ensure you receive the assistance you need and that all avenues to secure more jobs have been pursued.

Our team has worked very hard to keep up the hours worked that you all depend on to provide for your families and maintain your benefits. Since I last updated the membership, the out-of-work list has been reduced from 94 to 61.  

Throughout March we proactively worked our contacts in government and our relationships with private contractors to make sure all emergency construction projects related to the pandemic would be built union. To that end we were very successful, and I am proud of the hundreds of union laborers who have stepped up during these difficult times. As of today, we have over 100 members helping to construct field hospitals at Stony Brook and Old Westbury. We are part of the frontline workers whose training and skills are now on display for all to see and appreciate. Most importantly, the work we are currently contributing to will save lives.

For those of you still on the out of work list, you can be rest assured that we are also working diligently to get private construction back up and running. While emergency projects have been tremendous for our survival, I know that restarting our economy needs to be a top priority, and construction should be the first sector of the economy to come back on line. To make that happen, Local 66 is leading the way on a program called "Getting NY Back to Work Safely". The purpose of this program is to have in place all the protections you need to work safely throughout the remainder of this pandemic. Making sure you have the necessary safety equipment at your disposal, that job sites follow strict protocols to protect you and your families, and that procedures are in place to resolve any issues that may arise are all goals we are actively addressing. This effort is geared towards lobbying Governor Cuomo and his labor department to reinstate all construction as an essential service, and I am confident that this will occur in the very near future.

We are all in this together, and I have no doubt we will come back stronger than before. Its who we are as Laborers. In the meantime, continue to stay safe and I wish that you and your families stay in good health as we navigate this crisis.