Nail technician Kellie Deagazio uses a nail ventilation system as she applies acrylics to customer Adrienne Wilson of Brookline at Forever French Salon in Norwood.Joanne Rathe—Boston Globe/Getty Images
The New York State Assembly passed new licensing rules for nail salon workers on Friday, to the delight of labor advocates who say the bill will help reduce the number of unlicensed, immigrant workers vulnerable to exploitation.
The bill, which Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to promptly sign into law, lowers the cost of a qualifying exam and enables unlicensed workers to register as a “trainee,” so that they can legally continue to work in salons while training for the final exam.
“This critical legislation removes barriers to obtaining licenses for thousands of nail salon workers in New York, many of whom are Asian American immigrant women,”said Miriam Yeung, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
“We urge states across the country to follow this example and take similar action,” she added.
The New York Times published an expose of the industry in May, in which it reported widespread exploitation of nail manicurists in New York City salons.
Women of Steel: LIFE With Female Factory Workers in World War II
Women laborers clear tracks of spilled materials, Gary, Ind. 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesWomen wearing gas masks clean a blast furnace top at a Gary, Ind. steel mill, 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesWomen employees at Tubular Alloy Steel Corp. in Gary, Ind. predominate at pep meeting, 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBernice Daunora, 31, a member of a steel mill's "top gang" who must wear a "one-hour, lightweight breathing apparatus" as protection against gas escaping from blast furnaces, Gary, Ind., 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTheresa Arana, 21, takes down temperature recordings at draw furnaces, Gary, Ind., 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Stamping machine in rail mill at Gary is operated by Mrs. Florence Romanowski (right). She mechanically brands identifications into red-hot rails. Her husband is in Army.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Katherine Mrzljak, 34, is one of top gang. She is Croatian, has two children. Husband also works in mill.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesWomen welders, Gary, Ind., 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Scarfing is the operation which removes surface defects from slabs to condition them for rolling. Girl (center) marks out defects with chalk for man who is doing the scarfing (right).Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Beveling armor plate for tanks at Gary Works, these women operate powerful acetylene torches.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Audra Mae Hulse, 20, is flame cutter at the American Bridge Co. in Gary. She has five relatives in plant.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Lugrash Larry, 32, a laborer in Blast Furnace Department, has four children. Husband works in Billet Mill.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Lorraine Gallinger, 20, is metallurgical observer. She is from North Dakota, plans to return after war.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Blanche Jenkins, 39, is welder at Carnegie-Illinois, buys a $50 war bond each month. She has two children.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Flame cutting of a slab is done by four-torch machine controlled and operated by one woman. Alice Jo Barker (above) has a husband and son who also work in war industries.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Pan Man' at Gary Works is Mrs. Rosalie Ivy, a husky Negro laborer. She is mixing a special mud used to seal the casting hole through which molten iron flows from a blast furnace.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Transfer car operator Mae Harris, 23, signals crane man above to return the empty, hot metal ladle to the transfer car (left). The ladle has contained molten iron which has poured into an open-hearth furnace. In the furnace the molten iron is added to molten scrap which, together with iron ore and fluxes, results in finished steel after refinement.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Dolores Macias, 26, of Mexican descent, has a son. She has been a member of the top gang for five months.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Victoria Brotko, 22, is a blacksmith's helper. She took her twin brother's job when he joined the Marines.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Ann Zarik, 22, is a flame burner in Armor Plate Division. (Image of her appeared on issue's cover; see last slide)Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. In the foundry of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Co., these women are at work as core-makers. A total of 18 women employed here on two shifts. The core-maker's functions are like those of a sculptor, and the implements used are trowels, spatulas and mallets. Castings being made in this picture are for use not only at Carnegie-Illinois but at other plants.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. On aircraft carrier deck women work as welders and scrapers. Girls alongside this steel prefabricated deck section who are without headgear and masks operate tools which scrape loose surface imperfections in preparation for welding. The welder in foreground has her name, 'Jakie,' written on helmet, a popular style note among lady welders.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Girl metallurgical observer uses optical pyrometer in determining temperature of steel in open hearth.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesLIFE magazine cover, August 9, 1943.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
