The dependents of essential workers who died of COVID will receive annual increases in their workers compensation survivor benefits thanks to a bill signed today by Gov. Phil Murphy.
“We thank Governor Murphy for his leadership and compassion in signing A-3998 into law,” New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said. “It’s been a year of unprecedented hardship for workers who put themselves at risk every day so that New Jerseyans were cared for, protected and educated, and so that essential services vital to our citizens continued to be delivered. This law ensures that the families of those who paid the ultimate price due to the nature of their jobs have greater financial security.”
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO also thanks and commends the bill’s prime sponsors, Sen. Troy Singleton, D-7th District, and Assembly members Carol A. Murphy, D-7th District, Thomas P. Giblin, D-34th District, and Anthony S. Verrelli, D-15th District, and thanks state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District for their leadership in guiding its passage.
A-3998 provides a cost-of-living increase annually from workers compensation to the dependents of certain essential workers who contracted COVID-19 on the job and later died of the coronavirus.