Posts tagged New York
Rivers Casino Portsmouth First Virginia Gaming Property to Unionize
November 5, 2025 // The Local 822 Teamsters chapter said workers at the Portsmouth casino backed unionizing with 95% support. The Norfolk-based union, which primarily represents freight and manufacturing employees in the region, says the Rivers Casino contract sets a precedent for fairness, wages, and workplace protections in Virginia’s rapidly emerging gaming industry. Local 822 represents workers at UPS, UPS Freight, ABF Freight, and Pepsi. Rivers has now been added to the list.
‘Scabby the Rat’ mascot slashed outside reopening of iconic NYC eatery Babbo — sparking cops’ raid
November 3, 2025 // Then Haack said he turned to his rat and saw where the hissing sound was coming from: a fresh, 8-inch gaping hole on its right thigh. “The man who approached me is still outside and some others and they kind of chuckle, acknowledging what just happened,” Haack said. “I’m sure they at least found it funny.” Haack called 911. Within five minutes, up to 10 NYPD officer arrived at the restaurant’s Waverly Place address in squad cars with their lights and sirens blaring.
Starbucks workers union planning pickets, rallies through Nov. 2. See in which states
October 27, 2025 // Starbucks, for its part, says it is willing to bargain with the union, which the company says represents about 9,500 of its "partners," or employees. "Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk," corporate spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners," Anderson said. "We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
Lessons from D.C.: Why “$30 by ‘30” Wage Plan Could Leave Servers with Less
October 26, 2025 // Mr. Mamdani’s plan is being aligned with a renewed push by progressive New York legislators to eliminate the tipped-wage system, which would require restaurant workers to be paid the same minimum wage as all other tipped-wage positions. Legislation has been percolating in Albany in recent years that would phase out the tipped wage by 2028, with a prominent “Living Wage for All Coalition” now launching to guide the effort to fruition. Behind the coalition is the group One Fair Wage, which has been spearheading a systematic effort to eliminate the tipped-wage system in progressive jurisdictions across America. One Fair Wage has seen success in large cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., but as these policies take hold, the economic reality is starting to bite.
NLRB Challenges California’s AB 288 as Preempted by Federal Law
October 22, 2025 // The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed suit against the State of California and the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) seeking to block enforcement of Assembly Bill 288, a new law that would allow California to step into the NLRB’s shoes under certain conditions. The NLRB contends that AB 288 is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As discussed in our prior update here, California recently joined New York in passing legislation that would allow state agencies to assume powers delegated to the NLRB by Congress
NAGE IAEP Union Boss Robert Rasulo Sentenced for Crimes
October 21, 2025 // NAGE IAEP Treasurer Robert Rasulo has been sentenced to two years of probation, along with paying nearly $20 in restitution, after pleading guilty to petit larceny and attempted petit larceny.
Starbucks Baristas File Brief Urging Supreme Court to Allow President to Remove Rogue Agency Officers
October 21, 2025 // The brief concludes with the Foundation’s legal argument that Humphrey’s “cannot neuter the President’s ability to supervise those who exercise substantial parts of [executive] power.” Therefore, the Supreme Court “should make clear that the President’s removal power applies to every agency that exercises executive power, including the NLRB.”
Breaking News Strike Update – Tentative Deal Reached Between Equity and the Broadway League
October 21, 2025 // No one has called for a strike quite yet. Actors' Equity Association, representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers, has argued for new a Broadway contract that ensures safe staffing, humane scheduling, sustainable working conditions, and paying fair share of benefits. Local 802, representing thousands of highly skilled musicians in New York City, is bringing similar issues to the table: fair wages that reflect Broadway’s success; stable health coverage; and employment and income security.
How Josh Hawley Is Empowering Unions in New York and California
October 19, 2025 // A week later, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to confirm two of Trump's NLRB nominees. Mayer's nomination was tabled. Without that seat filled, the NLRB still lacks a quorum—and, as a result, the labor boards in New York and California have power. Of course, blocking Mayer's appointment to the board is within Hawley's authority as a senator and a member of that key committee. Still, exercising that authority has opened Hawley to criticism. "Hawley is definitely trying to help unions," Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank, told Reason via email.
Dollar store workers fight to improve jobs, even without a union
October 17, 2025 // In 2022, Williams joined an organization that seemed, to him, like his best shot: Step Up Louisiana. Like several successful campaigns before it, Step Up organizes workers to improve their jobs, but stops short of calling for a union under the National Labor Relations Board. The approach, sometimes referred to as “premajority unionism,” is a natural fit for places like the South, with histories of public hostility to unions. Today, suggest experts, it may also be workers’ best bet for building power amid the hostility of the Trump administration.