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RWDSU to Governor Hochul: Sign the Grieving Families Act Now

Avalanche of Labor Support for Wrongful Death Reform

December 13, 2023 Special from Brooklyn Reporter

President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Stuart Appelbaum.
Photo courtesy of RWDSU

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In a letter shared with the Brooklyn Eagle, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has thrown its full support behind the Grieving Families Act, calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the popular legislation.

The latest endorsement from the 100,000-member-strong RWDSU comes amid a flurry of labor support for the bill. District Council 37, the largest municipal public employee union and New York State Nurses Association urged Governor Hochul to sign the reform earlier this month, showing the groundswell of support from New York’s working families.

The legislation would update the state’s nearly 200-year-old wrongful death law and is waiting for the governor’s signature. She has until the end of the year to sign the act.

The bill, sponsored by New York State Senate Judiciary Chair Brad Hoylman-Sigal, would allow relatives of the wrongfully killed to file a claim for emotional grief and anguish, not just economic losses, as is currently the law.

Governor Hochul vetoed a broader version of the legislation last year, saying that she needed more time to look at the data and grapple with complex issues. A narrower version of the bill is now headed to her desk for review.

Sen. Hoylman-Sigal told Politico last week that a veto override could be in store, “With overwhelming, bipartisan support in both the Assembly and Senate, the Grieving Families Act is an ideal bill for a veto override if that becomes an unfortunate necessity.”

Brad Hoylman-Sigal in Albany, N.Y., on April 17, 2023.
Photo: Hans Pennink/AP

In the RWDSU letter, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the powerful retail workers’ union, referenced the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, noting that families of those women got a paltry $75-per-victim in civil lawsuits.

“The core tenant of the labor movement is that workers have inherent worth as human beings,” states Appelbaum.” One should not have to be rich to have worth.”

“New York’s current wrongful death statute contradicts every one of these principles. Under the current law, the rich are worth more to their families than middle class workers; wrongdoers are fully held accountable only if they happened to kill a person of means; workers tormented by the premature loss of their non-earning spouses, children, or elderly parents are denied meaningful restitution entirely. And we are troubled that the current law results in gender and racial disparities when women and communities of color are wrongfully killed.”

The unions join a broad coalition that includes the American Association of Justice, the NAACP, MADD, NYAGV, NYS BPHA Caucus, Giffords, AARP, Families for Safe Streets, Safe Horizons, Mason Tenders’ District Council, Citizen Action!, Center for Justice and Democracy, New York Immigration Coalition, Everytown and more.