Workers in the building trades in New York state demand protection now! On Friday, March 20th, Governor Cuomo failed to protect building trades workers in New York state by declaring us to be "essential" workers.

We workers know most of our work is not essential for the health or safety of the public. As such, we demand the following:

• stop-work orders on all work that is non-essential for health or public safety (healthcare facilities, sanitation, core utility projects, etc.)
• hazard pay for essential workers (see above)
• allocation of PPE for all essential workers (N95 or higher masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.)
• re-allocation of PPE from non-essential sites to front-line workers in healthcare
• protections for our undocumented co-workers
• paid sick leave for all New York workers - funded by New York large business and real estate

We workers know our lives are at risk and that we endanger the lives of others by continuing to come into work. We are not fooled into thinking building luxury condos or other such projects by and for the wealthy in any way "essential" for anything but the profit of our bosses. They need us - and it is ESSENTIAL we make sure that we are not the ones sacrificing and endangering others for their gain.