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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Hannah Chimowitz, Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst at National Employment Law Project (NELP) on the Construction Justice Act
2:15:39
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Hannah Chimowitz, representing the National Employment Law Project (NELP), strongly supports the Construction Justice Act. She argues that the bill will provide fair employment opportunities in construction for people with criminal records, particularly benefiting residents of neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and incarceration rates.
- The construction industry is a significant employer for people with criminal records, with about 25% of recently incarcerated individuals finding work in this sector.
- The bill aims to break the cycle of criminalization and financial instability by providing access to good-paying jobs with benefits.
- NELP urges the council to pass the Construction Justice Act to address historical marginalization in the labor market and targeting by the criminal legal system.
Hannah Chimowitz
2:15:39
Thank you, Chair, Dela Rosa, and committee members for the you need to testify.
2:15:43
My name is Hannah Jim Woods, and I'm a senior researcher and policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project, or Nelp, a New York based national nonprofit that's been fighting for workers' rights for 55 years.
2:15:56
Nelp is a leading authority on fair chance hiring, working closely with advocates and policymakers to reduce barriers to employment for people with arrest or conviction records.
2:16:07
We strongly support the Construction Justice Act.
2:16:11
Construction is one of few industries where people with records can find work.
2:16:15
Around 1 and 4 recently incarcerated people who find employment work in construction.
2:16:21
This bill will ensure that residents of night to developments and neighborhoods with higher poverty rates will have access to construction jobs with good wages and essential benefits.
2:16:32
Due to a public housing to prison pot pipeline that fuels racialized economic inequality in the city, incarceration rates and census tracks with nitrile developments are 4.6 times higher than a non nitrile neighborhoods, despite similar crime rates.
2:16:49
As these residents are disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system.
2:16:54
This bill provides an opportunity to help break the cycle of criminalization and financial instability.
2:17:01
People with records face major obstacles to securing good jobs.
2:17:05
Conditions of probation and parole can also drive desperation and create intense pressure for workers to accept any job they can find no matter how unsafe or underpaid.
2:17:17
This bill will help ensure that cities is labor of exploited workers.
2:17:24
This bill provides a pathway to good construction jobs for workers and communities that have been both historically marginalized in the labor market and targeted by the criminal legal system.
2:17:35
For these reasons, Yelp strongly urges the counsel to pass the Construction Justice Act.
2:17:40
Thank you for your attention and consideration.