Posts tagged New York
Shawn Fain, Who Pledged to Reform U.A.W., Faces Internal Dissent
September 16, 2025 // The dissident workers’ main complaints about Mr. Fain are rooted in internal union matters like budgets and his treatment of other union officials, rather than in grand philosophical disagreements about labor and political issues. The people seeking to oust him say that he has spent too much of the union’s money on organizing campaigns in the South and other initiatives they consider misguided. They contend that he has improperly stripped two board members of critical duties and say he failed to prevent a Michigan-based automaker from laying off thousands of workers.
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.
New York Foundation for the Arts Workers Move to Unionize
September 14, 2025 // Workers at the nonprofit New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) are moving to unionize through Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Never before in NYFA’s history have its workers led such an initiative. The nonprofit offers grants to artists and institutions, though it is even more well-known in the New York art world for the classifieds section of its website. Staff members there said they decided to push for unionization due to a lack of transparency, unfair wages, and unsustainable working conditions.
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.
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.
Employee Advocate Supports Repeal of Biden-Backed Union Power Scheme Over Temporary Agricultural Workers
September 5, 2025 // National Right to Work Foundation comments: Biden DOL lacked authority to impose pro-union boss regulation over temporary agricultural workers
Commentary: Unions Are Shrinking Nationwide—But Not in California
September 3, 2025 // California, though, is noteworthy for its steady union presence. It hasn’t fluctuated much since 2005, despite the national decline. Further, the federal data set used to produce the union figures does not include home health care and child care workers who are classified as self-employed. In California, that takes in some 700,000 workers, even though their hourly wages are negotiated with individual counties through unions.
Op-ed: Celebrating the Decline of Big Labor
September 2, 2025 // New York and California have 17 percent of U.S. workers, but almost 30 percent of U.S. union members. The states with the lowest rates include the Carolinas, which do not allow collective bargaining in the public sector. More states should look to abolish public-sector collective bargaining, as Utah did this year. And more states should pick up where Republicans left off in the early-to-mid 2010s by passing right-to-work laws. The first order of business should be restoring Michigan’s law that Democrats repealed. In 24 states, private-sector workers can still be coerced to join or financially support a union.
Over 600 workers begin strike at 2 GE Aerospace facilities
September 2, 2025 // The Boeing engine supplier will continue to provide benefits to the striking union members at its sites in Ohio and Kentucky in accordance with the law, according to the company’s website.
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.