Posts tagged Brooklyn
Liberty Justice Center Sues Brooklyn Library Union Over Compulsory Dues
September 28, 2026 // The Liberty Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Brooklyn Public Library employee Jeffrey A. Schwartz, challenging the requirement that he pay union dues as a condition of his employment. In Schwartz v. Brooklyn Library Guild, Local 1482, AFL-CIO et al., the Liberty Justice Center represents Schwartz, a Government Documents Librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). The lawsuit challenges the continued deduction of union dues from his wages by BPL and Local 1482. It alleges that the arrangement is unconstitutional because the City of New York is so deeply entwined with BPL’s governance—especially with respect to employee pay and benefits—that BPL’s actions are fairly attributable to the government. As a result, the lawsuit argues, BPL employees are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as other public employees.
Brooklyn Defender Services may strike if deal fails
July 16, 2026 // Nearly 500 employees could walk off the job, including 280 attorneys, 80 social workers, and 160 other staff members, such as paralegals and investigators.
New York’s doormen are about to go dark — and Park Avenue veteran is ready to abandon his post
April 17, 2026 // On April 20, the contract covering 34,000 residential building workers — doormen, porters, superintendents, handypersons, resident managers — expires. The union, 32BJ SEIU, and the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations have been locked in negotiations that, by Vega’s account, have been less than promising.
Union Effort at New York Transit Museum Heads to a Vote
March 17, 2026 // Museum workers first announced plans to unionize in early February, a decision they say was driven by concerns over job insecurity, unfair compensation, a lack of transparency around managerial decision-making, and isolation between workers in separate departments. The museum management’s decision to deny voluntary recognition marked a shift in its response toward unions at the institution: Last year, when three dozen sales associates working in the Transit Museum gift shop unionized through the Transport Workers Union 100, museum management opted to recognize the union voluntarily, allowing those workers to move forward without an NLRB election.
Andrew Tarlow’s Greenpoint Bar Achilles Heel Has Closed
February 10, 2026 // “The business has faced a protracted period of financial hardship, and we’ve reached a point where it is no longer viable to continue operating,” the post reads. The staff allegedly announced a desire to unionize; in the announcement for the closure, the comments are turned off. If it had unionized, it would not be the first Tarlow spot to do so; She Wolf had also unionized about two years ago, after a brutal battle, which included a staffer drawing an antisemitic caricature of the owner in a workers’ zine.
Union Ex-President Arrested on Theft and Wire Fraud Charges
December 1, 2025 // Between 2003 and 2023, Carbone served as the president of United Federation of College Teachers Local 1460, the union representing faculty members at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. As alleged in the indictment, Carbone stole over $290,000 from the Local between 2011 and 2023, when he was voted out of office. Carbone used the money for his personal expenses, restaurants and travel, and buying and renovating a property in Athens.
Park Slope Starbucks closing, after October unionization
January 17, 2025 // While Starbucks said in a statement that the company has “engaged Workers United to discuss transfer options for the 14 partners currently employed at this location to continue working at nearby stores,” Sammy said Starbucks had told partners they were not guaranteed a job at another store, but Starbucks would do its best to find them a position within the company.
New York’s Fastest-Growing Union Is Management’s Best Friend — and Some Workers Don’t Even Know They’re Members
December 20, 2024 // Though she last worked for Five Borough two months ago, she stopped receiving pay stubs long before that, she said — paperwork that would have had to show deductions, including for union dues. Supervisors ignored her repeated requests for pay records, she said. Through such voluntary recognition deals with management, less than a decade after its founding, HHWA has exploded in size. It currently claims some 43,000 members, up from 14,141 in 2018. An investigation into Home Healthcare Workers of America by THE CITY, based on interviews with past and current members, legal records and other public statements, reveals that this fast-growing union is a tool of company management in the form of a labor organization.
Op-Ed: Hochul needs to shut down this pricey home-health-care power grab
September 25, 2024 // And bidders are all too likely to fold: “The political world does not mess” with 1199 SEIU,” snarks Empire Center health-industry expert Bill Hammond. “Any bidder with the slightest understanding of what they were getting into when entering into this contract would know what that meant when [1199 SEIU] put that piece of paper in front of them.” Unionizing 200,000 caregivers would be a huge win for 1199, which already boasts 450,000 members. Yet it would defeat the purpose of the program — which, again, is to help family members, not unionized employees, to care for loved ones.
NLRB seeks to force Trader Joe’s to reopen New York wine store
January 25, 2024 // The NLRB said its general counsel is seeking remedies including compelling Trader Joe’s to reopen the store, which was located in New York City’s Union Square neighborhood and closed in 2022, and “make-whole relief” for its workers. The NLRB intends to encourage the union and Trader Joe’s to reach a settlement and has scheduled a hearing before an administrative law judge starting on May 7. Either party could appeal the judge’s decision to the board and ultimately to a federal appeals court. The UFCW hailed the NLRB’s decision to file the complaint as a victory for Trader Joe’s workers in their effort to gain leverage against Trader Joe’s.