Opinion: Albany must step up for essential retail workers

By now we’ve all seen the videos. Retail workers going about their day being attacked for confronting shoplifters or being assaulted in their stores. The horrific videos and stories have become all too common. Instead of turning a blind eye to the plight of these workers, my colleagues in state government must act to pass a package of bills designed to protect and empower retail workers called the Essential Retail Worker Protection Acts. 

The statistics around retail theft are alarming. In 2022, New York City registered 63,000 shoplifting complaints, which was up from 41,000 the year before. In total, every borough saw a substantial increase in shoplifting in 2022 - including petty larceny, grand larceny, and robbery when there's use of force. In my home borough of Staten Island, burglary, grand larceny and petit larceny are all up too.

These are alarming statistics – but we also can’t forget that behind every statistic is a person. It’s people being attacked in stores. It’s workers who are scared to confront shoplifters. And it’s consumers who don’t go into stores because they are worried about their wellbeing. These stores are the backbones of our community economies. They employ tens of thousands of people, and owners are often people who started as employees and workers themselves. They are a pathway to the middle class. 

We also need to take a moment to remember just who these workers are. They are often immigrants. They are people of color. And they are the workers who in 2020 kept our city running at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. They were deemed essential workers, and we called them – rightfully – heroes. Many retail workers got sick and died when others had the luxury to stay home. 

Today, those essential workers need help and they need it now. That is where the Legislature in Albany comes in. Today, a package of bills called the Essential Retail Worker Protection Acts sits before my colleagues in the Legislature. 

We need to take action, which is why last month, I introduced legislation in the state Senate that would make assaulting a retail employee or owner a class D felony. This would bring them up to the same level as assaulting utility workers or other essential workers. This legislation is common sense. These workers were called heroes and praised for their dedication to New York, the least we can do is protect them from being attacked in their own place of work. I am thankful that my colleague Assembly Member Manny De Los Santos has introduced a same-as bill in that legislative house. Other pieces of legislation create an offense for fostering the sale of stolen goods, and others raise a subsequent offense to grand larceny in the fourth degree. 

In support of retail workers, a coalition called Collective Action to Protect Our Stores has sprung up. Already, organizations reporting more than 10,000 stores have joined the coalition, in addition to the chambers of commerce from all five boroughs. They are not asking for much, they simply want state government to recognize the truth that’s in front of all of our eyes: retail workers need our help and they need it now. This is not partisan, it’s common sense. 

With a few months left in session, legislators in Albany should do the right thing and pass these bills, protect our essential workers and let them know we support them in more than words, but actions.