Posts tagged Kathy Hochul
California to weigh in on private labor disputes if NLRB can’t
October 2, 2025 // AB 288 expands the state Public Employment Relations Board's powers over private sector labor disputes like unfair labor practice charges and enforcing collective bargaining agreements. Other blue states, including New York, are trying to expand their state labor agencies' powers over issues that would normally be decided under the National Labor Relations Act, citing Trump's antipathy to organized labor.
Amazon sues New York over union protections
September 24, 2025 // In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New York City, Amazon argues that a newly minted state law giving the New York State Public Employment Relations Board authority to oversee union elections and resolve unfair labor practice charges is an "unconstitutional power grab" that's preempted by federal labor laws. Amazon was seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the law, but U.S. District Court judge Eric R. Komitee rejected that request in an order issued late Tuesday, citing a lack of notice to defendants named in the lawsuit. Lawyers for Amazon said the New York law "flips U.S. labor law on its head" by giving the state's PERB jurisdiction over every private-sector employer "until the NLRB gets a court to hold otherwise."
National Labor Relations Board sues to block New York labor law
September 22, 2025 // The suit claims that S8034A/A8590A creates a regulatory system in conflict with the National Labor Relations Act, alleging that it usurps the NLRB’s authority to regulate the private sector. It wants the court to declare the law invalid because it’s preempted by the NLRA under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint also asks the court for an injunction to stop the state from enforcing the law. S8034A/A8590A, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) at the New York City Labor Day Parade, amends the State Labor Relations Act to allow the PERB to enforce collective bargaining agreements and certify bargaining representatives. It took effect immediately upon being signed.
No LIRR strike for at least 4 months as Trump steps in on labor dispute
September 17, 2025 // The emergency board will probe the contract fight and prevent and mediate negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, which triggers a 120-day “cooling off period.” That means neither the MTA nor the unions can change wages, hours or working conditions — and workers cannot legally strike — for roughly four months unless both sides agree to a deal.
Opinion: Hochul must shame LIRR unions —by revealing their outrageous strike demands
September 15, 2025 // The agency’s overtime spending regularly stands out by national standards (only periodically rivaled by the MTA’s other big rail outfit, Metro-North, which is stuck operating under the federal law that governs the LIRR). LIRR employees in 2023 made an average of more than $26,000 each in overtime alone.
Stefanik, Hochul spar over rehiring COs who participated in strike
September 10, 2025 // Officers and union officials have said that some of the 2,000 people fired were on approved leave, medical and family leave included. Some came in later that day, expecting to work their normal shift, but were told they’d been fired when they arrived. Under the terms of the Taylor Law, striking employees must be penalized up to two days pay per day on strike, and the state can appeal to the courts for orders to get people back to work under penalty of fine or prison time. Unions are absolutely barred from participating in or encouraging the strike, and can be decertified by the state if they’re found to have done so. The Watertown Daily Times reported in May that the department was proceeding with the grievance process for about 600 people; not everyone was going to get an offer to come back from that, and not all who did get an offer were going to take it. The union said they were working on 3,200 grievances.
Op-ed: Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again?
September 9, 2025 // The new mayor could host big online unionization trainings with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have already done. If this led even a small fraction of Zohran’s 60,000-plus volunteers and over 6 million social media followers to start organizing their own workplaces—or to take a strategic job to unionize it—this could potentially generate thousands of new unionization campaigns. And were Mamdani to act upon our proposal to launch a broad Movement for an Affordable New York (MANY), then the pool of new potential workplace organizers would grow significantly.
Long Island Railroad Unionized Employees Are Ready to Strike on September 18
September 9, 2025 // Five unions could participate in the strike, representing about half of LIRR’s 7,000 employees. Two groups – the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – began voting this week to organize the protest, while two others – the Transportation Communications Union and the International Association of Machinists – had already decided to do so a month ago. It is unclear whether the fifth and final union, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, will join the initiative. A month ago, the unions rejected an offer of a 9.5% pay increase over three years, which had been agreed upon by some LIRR and MTA employees.
N.Y. Gov. Hochul signs 5 union protection bills, including Staten Island senator’s apprenticeship law
September 8, 2025 // Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton joined Gov. Kathy Hochul in celebrating the passage of bills seeking to protect and create union jobs in New York. Hochul passed five different bills on union labor, ranging from pay protections to apprenticeships — which was Scarcella-Spanton’s legislation.
Op-ed: Organized Labor Pushes Blue States to Protect Private University Student Workers
September 2, 2025 // Without a quorum at the NLRB, state legislation that codifies collective bargaining for private-sector employees may be key to preserving workers’ rights.