NEW JERSEY — There are more than 127,000 “temp workers” in New Jersey. According to advocates, many of them struggle with wage theft, unsafe working conditions and a lack of benefits – all issues that can be traced back to their multinational corporate employers.

And that’s why labor activists and employees say they’re pushing for a “Temp Workers’ Bill of Rights” in the Garden State.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Legislature passed two bills, S511 and A1474, which would provide key protections to temp workers, including “ensuring equal compensation, providing more transparency, eliminating excessive fees, and instituting anti-retaliation measures.”

The vote was 23-14 in the Senate, and 46-29 with three abstentions in the Assembly. The legislation now heads to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy.

Primary sponsors include Sen. Joseph Cryan and Assemblywoman Yvonne Marie Lopez. Co-sponsors include Assembly members Annette Chaparro, Reginald Atkins, Mila Jasey, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Sadaf Jaffer, Shavonda Sumter and Bennie Wimberly.

If it becomes law, the bills would give a big boost to workers like Dayse Rodriguez.

“For too many years, temp workers like me have been subject to wage theft, abuse and exploitation,” said Rodriguez, a member of Make The Road NJ, one of the groups supporting the proposed law.

“During the pandemic, we risked our lives to do essential work without adequate protections,” Rodriguez said. “That’s why we have been fighting for years for the Temp Workers’ Bill of Rights.”

“Now, we now have the possibility of a decent and safe job,” Rodriguez added.

Advocates pointed to a recent report from Make the Road NJ and New Labor, which profiles workers employed in essential jobs through temp or staffing agencies in New Jersey. Many of the workers said “temporary” jobs are how they make their living year-round.

There are more than 127,000 people in New Jersey employed by temporary staffing agencies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many of them are crucial to maintaining the supply chain up and down the Interstate 95 corridor, working in warehouses to unpack shipped goods and repackage them for consumers.

“During the pandemic, New Jersey’s temporary workers in logistics and manufacturing plants kept our economy going, making and packaging the products that allowed many of us to stay at home,” said Laura Padin, Director of Work Structures, National Employment Law Project.

Read the full article in Patch.com