Posts tagged New York State Legislative Workers United
NY legislative staffers aren’t the only ones fighting to unionize
March 22, 2023 // New York legislative staff have a similar problem. The Taylor Law, or the Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act, compels state and local public employers to recognize unions, wrote Ken Girardin of the watchdog think tank the Empire Center. But under the Taylor Law, public employee unions within New York state cannot legally strike. Girardin also argued in a report for the Empire Center that NYSLWU would not be covered under the Taylor Law either way, writing that it “would raise numerous practical and constitutional issues.”
Exclusive: New York Assembly staff goes public with union effort
January 19, 2023 // According to organizers, over 50 Assembly staffers have already signed cards, with nearly unanimous agreement from the card holders to go public. Organizers said that a lack of a central staff directory as well as inconsistencies between offices make it hard to peg the exact number of employees who would be eligible for the union, but they estimate that number to be between 700 and 800 staffers. Organizers chose to go public in part to help them reach more staffers that the lack of a directory has made difficult. The organizing committee itself is made up of legislative employees from around the state and who hold a variety of positions, from constituent services liaisons to chiefs of staff – a higher level position the Assembly plans to include in their bargaining unit unlike in the state Senate.
State senators to get a harsh reality check as their own workers unionize
August 11, 2022 // Labor leaders were giddy when a group of state Senate employees last month announced their intent to unionize. But if the group achieves its objective — to subject senators to the sweeping union rules Albany imposes on local governments and schools — the result may be more than what labor bargained for. About 80 of the Senate’s roughly 1,000 employees have formed the New York State Legislative Workers United. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the group demanded the same bargaining privileges New York’s Taylor Law grants state and municipal employees and teachers.
A Legislative Staff Unionization Wave is Hitting Blue State Capitols
August 8, 2022 // Frustrated by low pay and long hours, state house staffers in Massachusetts, California, New York and Washington state are seeking to organize. They hope to join their counterparts in Oregon, who became the first in the nation to unionize in 2021. The organizing effort in state capitols mirrors a similar push in Congress. In May, the Democratically-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution giving congressional staffers the legal right to negotiate over salaries, schedules, pay disparities, promotion policies and other workplace issues without the threat of retaliation. Since then, aides to eight progressive lawmakers have unionized. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Ruth Milkman, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2222, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Senate President Karen Spilka,