Happy Women's History Month! Senate Labor Committee Passes Fashion Workers Act

ALBANY, NY (03/20/2024) (readMedia)-- Today, the New York Senate Labor Committee passed the Fashion Workers Act for the third year in a row. The pro-labor bill would regulate predatory management companies in New York that currently operate without oversight in the $2.5 trillion fashion industry. The Model Alliance is urging lawmakers to pass the bill in both chambers before the legislative session ends in June.

Fashion is big business in New York - Fashion Week alone generates close to $600 million in income each year for the State. The Fashion Workers Act would create basic protections for a majority immigrant, female workforce.

"New York State is the birthplace of the modern labor rights and women's rights movements and this month marks the 103 anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, when garment workers lost their lives under dangerous conditions. Today a similar workforce continues to operate without oversight. We are grateful to our champion in the Senate, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, for always having our back. Now it's time for the Assembly to act and regulate the 2.5 trillion dollar fashion industry getting rich off the backs of young, immigrant women and girls," said Sara Ziff, founder and executive director of the Model Alliance.

"I'm proud that the Fashion Workers Act (S.2477A) has passed out of the Senate Labor Committee again. This bill will close the legal loopholes that allow modeling agencies to maintain near-complete control over a model's finances, job opportunities, and use of their personal image. I'm looking forward to the full Senate passage so we can make New York a global leader not only in fashion, but in protection for fashion workers, too," said Senator Brad Holyman-Sigal

"As we celebrate Women's History Month, advancing the Fashion Workers Act underscores our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of the women who drive one of our state's most vibrant and lucrative industries. Today's Senate Labor Committee vote marks a significant step toward rectifying long standing injustices in the fashion industry, honoring our state's rich legacy of labor and women's rights movements," said Senator Jessica Ramos, Chair of the Senate Labor Committee.

About the Fashion Workers Act:

Unlike talent agencies, modeling and creative agencies are considered to be management companies under New York State General Business Law §171(8), known as the "incidental booking exception," allowing them to escape licensing and regulation. In almost every case, agencies are granted "power of attorney" as part of their agreement to represent talent, giving agencies power to accept payments on behalf of the model, deposit checks and deduct expenses, as well as book jobs, negotiate the model's rate of pay, and give third parties permission to use the model's image. Models and creatives often wait months, even years to get paid for jobs through management companies, which deduct various unexplained fees from their earnings, on top of a hefty 20 percent commission on the model's fee. Management companies also charge typically a 20 percent service fee to the client, making the commission taken out of a model's earnings even more extortionate. By contrast, talent agencies can legally only take a 10 percent commission from talent and no service fee. Additionally, model management companies crowd young models in model apartments, where they warehouse anywhere from six to 10 young women in one apartment and charge them each upwards of $2,000 a month for an apartment worth far less. While management companies hold models and creatives to exclusive, multi-year contracts and sponsor their work visas, they insist they have no obligation to book jobs, which ensnares them in cycles of debt and makes these workers highly vulnerable to other forms of abuse, including human trafficking.

The Fashion Workers Act would require management agencies to:

• Accept responsibility to act in the best interests of their talent
• Pay models and creatives within 45 days of completing a job
• Provide models and creatives with copies of contracts and agreements
• Notify former models and creatives if the management collects royalties from a talent they no longer represent
• Register and deposit a surety bond of $50,000 with the NYS Department of State
• Conduct reasonable inquiry into health and safety on set
• Discontinue bad practices such as
• Collecting signing fees or deposits from models
• Charging more than the daily fair market rate for accommodation
• Deducting any other fee or expense than the agreed upon commission
• Renewing the contract without the model or creative's affirmative consent
• Imposing a commission fee greater than twenty percent of the model or creative's compensation
• Forbid the management company from taking retaliatory action against any model or creative using the bill to file a complaint
• Forbid the management company or client from engaging in discrimination or harassment any kind against talent on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other legally permissible categories under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended

About the Model Alliance

Founded in 2012, the Model Alliance has been at the forefront of advancing labor rights in the fashion industry for the last decade. Through strategic research, policy initiatives, and campaigns, the Model Alliance aims to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor. The Model Alliance has championed multiple pieces of legislation, including the Child Model Act in New York and the Talent Protections Act in California. The organization also runs the world's only industry-specific support line, MA Support. In 2021, the organization received the first Positive Social Influence Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the CFDA Awards.