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On Monday afternoon, the New York state Senate passed the Fashion Workers Act for the second year in a row, in a 45-17 vote, bringing New York’s modelling industry closer to workplace protections.
The Fashion Workers Act is a pro-labour bill that would give models, who typically work on freelance contracts, access to workplace protection as well as introduce regulations to the management companies that represent them. In effect, it would close the legal loophole that currently enables these companies to evade accountability in terms of payment; health and safety; and protection from discrimination and harassment.
To date, it’s gotten stuck in regulatory procedures, preventing its implementation. In 2023, it passed in the Senate but was not voted on by the assembly before the legislative session ended. Now, having once again passed in the Senate, the bill will go to the labour committee for a vote on Tuesday. It then needs to pass in the assembly before the legislative session ends on 6 June, before it can go to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for signature.
“It’s a nice feeling to see it moving forward again,” says Sara Ziff, founder and executive director of New York-based advocacy group The Model Alliance, which co-sponsors the bill. Last year, the budget ran late and the bill never reached the assembly for a vote, Ziff says.
This year, organisers are hoping for better results.
“We’re feeling very hopeful that this year we’ll get it done,” Ziff says. “I am very optimistic.” It’s a product of years of advocacy, she says, noting that, when she founded The Model Alliance in 2012, the fashion industry’s activism was less active.
This year, there’s more support than ever. “We’ve always had strong support behind the bill, but particularly this year, we’re proud of the broad coalition of support throwing their weight behind the Fashion Workers Act,” she says.
Fashion workers and advocates have been rallying for the bill in the lead up to the vote. Earlier this month, on the Sunday before the Met Gala, the Model Alliance gathered on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art alongside representatives from SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America East, the Condé Union, National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Freelancers Union. “We’re seeing more momentum and support,” Ziff says.
Last month, the Model Alliance expanded its board of directors with four new female members. Two have labour policy expertise: former New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, who passed legislation to strengthen protections for survivors and hold employers accountable for addressing sexual misconduct (she also introduced the Fashion Act) and Caitlin Rooney, senior labour policy advisor to US Senator Bernie Sanders. Two are current working models: activists Ambra Battilana Gutierrez and Nidhi Sunil.
“We pride ourselves on being worker-led,” Ziff says. “We’re really excited to have new leadership and fresh ideas. So we’re going into the end of the session feeling pretty good about our chances of passing the Fashion Workers Act.”
It’s more timely than ever, following the rise and decline of the #MeToo movement, which brought issues of harassment and discrimination in the entertainment industries to light. Ziff also flags the increasing prevalence – and emerging issue – of AI as engendering an additional sense of urgency.
“What we’re asking for is so basic,” Ziff says. “Fashion workers are workers like anyone else and there’s no excuse to keep carving them out of the same rights and protections afforded to other industries.”
Ahead of tomorrow’s vote, she says: “We are calling on the assembly to vote on the bill and Governor [Kathy] Hochul to sign it into law. The legislative session ends 6 June – so time is of the essence.”
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