Contractors and workers at odds over scaffold law

[NEW YORK] In 1885, as new engineering inventions were ushering in the era of the skyscraper, lawmakers in New York state enacted a law intended to safeguard construction workers who were finding themselves facing increasing dangers while working at ever-greater heights.

That measure, which became known as the Scaffold Law, required employers on building sites to ensure the safety of labourers working above the ground. Since then, some form of the legislation has remained on the books despite repeated attempts to repeal it.

But a lobby of contractors, property owners and insurers has in recent months renewed a campaign against the law, arguing that no less than the future of the state's construction industry is at stake.