The Hudson Valley’s nail salon workers deserve far better when it comes to safety and pay

People of all backgrounds get their nails done. Painted nails are expressive and artistic. But the actual work of turning nails into colorful, vibrant art is too often underpaid, exploitative, and dangerous. This is true throughout New York, including in the Hudson Valley.

As many as 85% of New York’s nail technicians — manicurists and pedicurists — are women, and 73% identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. These majority Asian and women workers get paid an alarmingly low average wage of $13.87 an hour, less than the state’s minimum wage, primarily because wage theft is prevalent in nail salons across our state.

Low pay in nail salons is a microcosm of the many challenges that women, especially women of color, face as workers. Pay disparities are especially extreme for many Asian women and for Nepalese women in particular, who earn as little as 48 cents on the dollar compared to white men. This is a result not only of racial and gender discrimination in our economy, but also of a high concentration of Asian women in the lowest-paying jobs — like those in nail salons.

New York nail salon workers continue to work under unsafe conditions, which can have long-term consequences for their health and that of their families.
New York nail salon workers continue to work under unsafe conditions, which can have long-term consequences for their health and that of their families.

To make matters worse, nail salon workers continue to work under unsafe conditions, which can have long-term consequences for their health and that of their families. As an alarming new report reveals, nail salon workers endure exposure to toxic chemicals in glues, polishes, removers, and other products. These chemicals increase the risk of serious illnesses like cancer and asthma, and harm to reproductive health, including complications during pregnancy and even birth defects in their children.

Low pay and dangerous working conditions are never inevitable.

There is a solution that would dramatically improve the lives and jobs of New York’s nail salon workers: the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act. This state legislation, which I am proud to co-sponsor, would establish an industry council of workers, small business owners, and government representatives to protect the workplace rights and reproductive health of women as skilled workers in the field of nail care.

This innovative legislation is the culmination of a decade of organizing and leadership among nail technicians from different Asian and Latin American countries. These women have used their shared experiences of earning low wages without benefits and working in unsafe nail salons to build a movement committed to health, dignity, and justice in New York’s nail salon industry. I admire their courage and commitment to transforming their workplaces and raising workplace standards for themselves and for future nail salon workers.

As we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage this month, I urge Gov. Kathy Hochul, our state’s first woman governor, and my colleagues in the state legislature to commit to passing this law immediately. By giving workers a long overdue role in improving their employment conditions, we can create a sustainable and healthy nail salon industry for everyone.

The art and skilled trade of nail care has been devalued and treated as cheap labor in our economy, because it is primarily done by immigrant women of color. Here’s the reality: nail technicians are highly skilled workers who must undergo 250 hours of training, or spend a year as a trainee under a licensed nail tech and complete a 27-hour course, as well as pass both written and practical exams in order to receive their licenses in New York State.

Nail technicians deserve not only good jobs but the same chance at leading better, safer, more fulfilling lives as all other working people. Hochul and the New York Legislature have the power right now to make that happen for tens of thousands of low-wage immigrant women working in nail salons. I call on them to join me in passing and implementing the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act immediately in this current legislative session.

Sarahana Shrestha is the first New York State legislator of Nepali origin, representing the Hudson Valley in Assembly District 103.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hudson Valley nail salon workers deserve better