Posts tagged New York
‘Power in the hands of people’: union leaders push to revive ailing US labor movement
April 15, 2026 // Leaders of some of the largest unions in the US have unveiled a drive to jumpstart the country’s ailing labor movement and combat growing wealth inequality under Donald Trump. To make it easier for workers to join a union, and strengthen the hand of new unions negotiating with powerful businesses, a string of prominent organizers joined together to launch Union Now, a non-profit designed to increase labor union density.
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.
Long Island Rail Road Strike Looms, as M.T.A. and Unions Reach Impasse
April 13, 2026 // Five unions representing more than 3,500 workers have threatened for months to walk off the job unless they receive bigger raises than other divisions of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad. The unions, which represent engineers, machinists, signalmen and other jobs critical to the rail operation, are seeking a retroactive 9.5 percent wage increase covering the last three years — the same offered to many other New York transit and civil servant unions. But they also want an additional 5 percent raise starting in 2026. The M.T.A. has argued that such a divergence in pay would upset the typical pattern for wage increases established with other groups, and would not be feasible unless the unions compromised on other aspects of the contract.
Commentary: Even socialist NYC mayor Mamdani can’t satisfy the teachers union
April 13, 2026 // Mulgrew has already threatened to try to kill the entire state budget unless it includes revisions to the Tier VI pension rules enacted in 2012, demanding a rollback that would allow teachers to retire earlier without massive penalties. He declared, “If we don’t have the significant fixes in Tier VI, then vote the budget down.” The changes would cost local governments, including New York City, hundreds of millions of dollars a year in higher pension contributions.
Op-ed: The Case Against Public-Sector Unions
April 9, 2026 // The reforms are commonsense: make re-enrollment annual and affirmative — if a worker wants to belong, they sign up every year end automatic payroll deductions so dues are a visible, conscious transaction require unions to disclose political spending the same way corporations have to These are exactly the kinds of reforms Oregon, New York and Hawaii are working to prevent — not by defeating them in debate, but by making it illegal to tell workers such options exist.
NYC apartment buildings could get stinky and gross if the workers that serve them go on strike, union reps warn
April 9, 2026 // Over a million New Yorkers could soon see crucial services in their apartment buildings disappear as tens of thousands of unionized doorpersons, porters, superintendents, handypersons and resident managers prepare to walk off the job later this month if their demands aren’t met. Luis Ayala, a union strike captain and overnight porter who has been in the building service industry for around five years, said the labor contract the real estate industry was offering stinks — and the stench of an odious labor dispute will be one that apartment dwellers will experience if a strike happens. “After a few days, the building is going to stink;
Teamsters Secure UPS Buyout Cap; NLRB Calls Amazon to the Bargaining Table
April 9, 2026 // Under the Driver Choice Program (DCP), UPS employees can opt to receive a $150,000 payment to accept early retirement from the company. The severance package would also include retirement benefits earned over their tenure, including pension and healthcare... The NLRB and Amazon have had an ongoing feud as unionization efforts across the company have popped up. In a separate complaint filed in September 2024, the Seattle-based Big Tech firm alleged that the NLRB improperly influenced the 2022 Staten Island election, and said the board’s structure was unconstitutional. That suit is still pending.
Opinion: Teacher’s union lies to extort billions from taxpayers
April 7, 2026 // The unions insist that the state needs to “fix” the pension rules because, they say, reforms enacted for future employees in 2009 and 2012 (the latter commonly called “Tier 6”) have made it harder to attract and keep good employees. This is a remarkable claim that crumbles under inspection. New York state government set a record for the most employees hired in 2023, only to smash it in 2024. So much for that recruitment problem.
Democrats vs. the Freedom Foundation New York and Hawaii are copying a toxic union-protection law.
April 2, 2026 // The unions claim the Freedom Foundation is trying to trick workers into thinking the mailings come from the union. But the mailings all identify the foundation or its union educational outreach project in plain sight. Freedom Foundation’s Maxford Nelsen says it’s “very risky to continue our outreach efforts in the state,” and that’s the point. Democrats mean to discourage the think tank from dissuading workers from automatic union fees collection.
Commentary: California on the Cusp
April 2, 2026 // The top three Democratic gubernatorial candidates enjoy strong backing from organized labor, including the state’s all-powerful public-employee unions. If elected, it’s nearly certain they’ll follow the union playbook of more taxes and regulations for the next four or even eight years.