The state is waging an aggressive campaign to strengthen worker protections, using a two-pronged approach that combines targeted enforcement actions with an effort to establish relationships with community-based groups, according to a top Paterson administration official.

"We really believe that all workers need to be protected, but government, in particular, needs to protect those workers who are the most vulnerable," said state Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith. She addressed social justice activists during the recent 2008 state Labor-Religion Coalition's Full Circle for Economic Justice Conference at NYSUT headquarters.

Noting New York's growing gap between rich and poor, Smith said her department is heavily focused on protecting the state's low-wage laborers, especially those in the farm and garment industries.

"We want to get the word out that the New York State Labor Department is a friend of low-wage workers, no matter their immigration status," Smith said.

The commissioner said her department is also stepping up efforts to thwart labor trafficking and the intentional misclassification of workers by employers who shift personnel from full-time to independent-contractor status to avoid paying overtime, workers' compensation, unemployment and health benefits.

Though not fully a year old, the department's effort to combat the practice has led to the discovery of 6,000 misclassified workers, enabling the state to recoup $38 million in unreported payroll and $3 million in overtime violations.

Most of that money, Smith said, goes back to the workers as restitution.

Central to the department's efforts, Smith said, is the push to build relationships with churches, labor groups and community organizations — all of which are in a position to know what is happening in their neighborhoods.

"We are much more effective when we partner with these groups," the commissioner said.

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi, who co-chairs the Labor-Religion Coalition, called Smith a "tireless and effective supporter for workers' rights."

- Matt Smith