Posts tagged New York City
Reason: Union Summer
May 21, 2026 // They're at it again: Yesterday, the unions representing the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad. It's not yet clear what's in the agreement, but the demands of the striking workers were rather extraordinary: Pay raises of 5 percent, plus three years of retroactive raises since their last contract was hammered out in 2022. This might make sense if they were destitute, but they are not: "More than 325 Long Island Rail Road workers are raking in over $100,000 a year in overtime on top of their lucrative salaries, with 11 of them netting at least twice that huge figure in OT," reports New York Post (below yesterday's perfect headline: "Gravy Train").
N.Y.C. Hotel Housekeepers Will Earn Over $100,000 Under New Contract
May 19, 2026 // “They’re going to try to offset that by raising rates,” he said. But how successful they would be is unclear, given that New York City already has the highest average room rates of any big city in the United States, at about $335 a night, Mr. Pequeno said. In the past year, New York hotels have also had the nation’s highest occupancy rate, at about 84 percent, he said. The agreement between the hotel workers and the industry comes about six weeks before the expiration of the current 14-year contract. For more than a year, union officials had been preparing for a strike in early July, just before the celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States and the final of FIFA’s World Cup tournament at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
How Teachers’ Unions Became Political Big Spenders
May 18, 2026 // A new report out today accuses both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) of spending tens of millions of dollars on electing Democratic political candidates, and prioritizing politicking over the needs and interests of their union members. The report, conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), Gevura Fund, and Rutgers University, among others, found that of the NEA’s $450 million annual disbursement budget from fiscal year 2025, less than $46 million, or 10 percent, was spent on activities directly representing the union’s constituents.
New Yorkers bracing for commuter chaos as LIRR workers remain on strike
May 17, 2026 // MTA Chairman Janno Lieber told reporters Sunday that the MTA refuses to make a deal that forces riders and taxpayers to fund wage increases for workers who, he contended, are already the highest-paid railroad employees in the nation. Nearly 300,000 daily commuters are affected by the strike, according to the MTA.
NYPD Union Sues Oversight Board For Letting People Know How Awful Some Cops Might Be
May 8, 2026 // ow that Eric Adams is gone — along with his embrace of political and police corruption — the Police Benevolent Association is back in action, claiming (in court!) the CCRB should not be allowed to release misconduct files the CCRB is legally allowed to release. Samantha Max has more details for Gothamist: New York City’s largest police union is suing the watchdog agency that investigates allegations of officer misconduct, saying the Civilian Complaint Review Board has stigmatized officers by sharing “inflammatory” records related to unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct, bias-based policing and lying. The Police Benevolent Association is urging the CCRB to redact officers’ identifying information when it turns over records related to these three categories of misconduct, if the officers were not found guilty of wrongdoing.
Hachette Employees Seek to Unionize
April 28, 2026 // The HWC would be the largest union in trade publisher history, according to the announcement, comprising hundreds of in-person and remote non-management workers. Among the Big Five, it joins the Association of HarperCollins Employees, members of Local 2110 of the UAW, which encompasses 180 staffers.
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.
Grad student union to negotiate new contract next month
April 15, 2026 // The union said that in negotiations, it will “fight against dangerous assaults” on members’ academic freedom and ability to protest on campus. In its bargaining goals, GSOC emphasized protecting international and noncitizen student workers in the wake of the Trump administration’s threats to revoke students’ visas and crack down on political speech on college campuses. In bargaining sessions, the committee also plans to urge NYU to expand members’ current health care plan to include “high-quality” dental and vision care. While the current contract does not detail members’ vision care plan, it states that the university must reimburse out-of-pocket medical and dental care expenses. GSOC said earlier this month that NYU reimbursed graduate student workers $60,000 in health care backpay after it “miscalculated” how much they were owed.
NYC faces possible strike by 34,000 doormen, building workers
March 28, 2026 // Property owners are alerting occupants of 3,500 co-ops, condos and apartment buildings across the five boroughs that services will decrease if a work suspension begins on April 21. That’s the day after the four-year-old contract expires for nearly 34,000 doormen, porters and maintenance workers. If there’s a strike, residents will need to wear badges to enter buildings, non-emergency renovation work will stop and moving in or out of the buildings will halt,
Empty classrooms? NYU professors to strike this month if contract agreements are not settled
March 5, 2026 // “The union’s announcement of a strike deadline is unwarranted and unjustifiable,” he said. “It comes immediately after the university offered their members the highest minimum salaries of any unionized full-time contract faculty in the country.” He added that the union’s actions do not justify jeopardizing the students’ education at the university.