FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 11, 2020

Make the Road New Jersey Responds to Gov. Murphy’s “One Jersey” Pledge

Measure is Insufficient to Protect Worker Safety as the State Reopens; Worker Must have a Voice at Work and Ability to Refuse Unsafe Work

(Passaic, NJ): On behalf of the immigrant and workers’ rights organization Make the Road New Jersey, member Felix Gallardo issued the following statement: “The One Jersey pledge is a completely insufficient measure to protect the health of workers, their families and the public.  As a COVID survivor who became infected at my workplace, where there was widespread infection due to limited PPE, I know that workers need to be able to be at the table when decisions are made about our health and safety. One of my coworkers died and we could have prevented this if he had adequate PPE and social distancing at work. Posters are not enough to hold employers accountable. Pledges only go so far as the commitment to enforce them. Workers like me won’t be able to stay healthy on the job unless we can enforce these standards. That’s why I joined hundreds of workers across New Jersey today to call on Governor Murphy to sign an Executive Order so that all workers have the right to refuse unsafe work without fear of retaliation, and to increase enforcement of labor and health and safety standards. As our state opens up, we will only be able to stay healthy if all workers have a voice and are protected.”

http://www.maketheroadnj.org/