Posts tagged New York
Foundation Notice Offers Free Legal Aid to New York In-Home Medicaid Caregivers Targeted for Forced Unionization by SEIU
October 2, 2026 // The Foundation’s legal notice informs CDPAP personal assistants of their legal rights, which include the right to challenge an effort by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) officials to impose unionization on every assistant currently providing care, often to family members, through the program. The notice encourages caregivers to reach out to the Foundation for additional information about their legal rights and for free legal assistance. “If certified, SEIU would become the exclusive representative of all personal assistants, irrespective of whether they support the union,”
Ballot Question 2 asks: Should public defenders have the right to unionize?
September 29, 2026 // Question 2 would allow employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, or CPCS, to participate in collective bargaining. If they negotiate a contract, CPCS would then be required to request the funding needed for that agreement from the governor within 30 days. The Yes On 2 campaign was organized to help grant public defenders the right to join a union. The campaign’s central argument states: CPCS employees should have the same opportunity to organize and negotiate collectively that many others have.
National Right to Work Foundation Asks NLRB to Halt SEIU Scheme to Impose Union on 190,000 New York In-Home Medicaid Caregivers
September 28, 2026 // Motion: Briefing needed as SEIU and PPL work together to impose unionization; PPL facing DOJ fraud lawsuit and isn’t actually caregivers’ ‘employer’
Liberty Justice Center Sues Brooklyn Library Union Over Compulsory Dues
September 28, 2026 // The Liberty Justice Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Brooklyn Public Library employee Jeffrey A. Schwartz, challenging the requirement that he pay union dues as a condition of his employment. In Schwartz v. Brooklyn Library Guild, Local 1482, AFL-CIO et al., the Liberty Justice Center represents Schwartz, a Government Documents Librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). The lawsuit challenges the continued deduction of union dues from his wages by BPL and Local 1482. It alleges that the arrangement is unconstitutional because the City of New York is so deeply entwined with BPL’s governance—especially with respect to employee pay and benefits—that BPL’s actions are fairly attributable to the government. As a result, the lawsuit argues, BPL employees are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as other public employees.
20 healthcare strikes in 2026
September 28, 2026 // Union activity in healthcare continues in 2026, with 20 reported strikes since the beginning of the year. Some of these actions involve healthcare workers and leaders across hospitals and clinics in multiple states.
Cleveland Orchestra musicians go on strike as contract talks remain unresolved
September 25, 2026 // The musicians' union is seeking a 25% total salary increase over three years. Cleveland Orchestra President and CEO André Gremillet said management cannot agree to that increase and said the two sides remain far apart. “We're really far apart,” Gremillet said. “In order for us to move with our offers, they need to move down. The whole point of negotiation is it is a give-and-take process. You cannot have only one side giving.
Commentary: Far-Left Agendas, Funded by Union Dues: The Truth About Big Labor’s Radical Shift
September 25, 2026 // As CPAW has highlighted before, union members are shifting. More union households voted for Donald Trump and Republican candidates in 2024 than at any point in modern polling history. Rank-and-file workers are increasingly aligning with conservative priorities. But union leadership has refused to follow their members. Instead of representing the people paying the bills, labor executives are doubling down on progressive extremism, aggressively spending members' own money to fight against the very policies their workers support.
Powerful New York Labor Group Seeks to Unionize 190,000 Health Workers
September 24, 2026 // The unionization vote would cover all caregivers enrolled in New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which in 30 years has been transformed from a small program into a major — and expensive — part of the state’s safety net. It enables vulnerable New Yorkers to hire a friend or relative to provide help — putting toothpaste on a toothbrush, lifting them off the toilet, cooking meals and cleaning up — instead of having a home attendant supplied by a staffing agency.
Union boss’ school-choice betrayal reveals NY’s true power players
September 22, 2026 // American Federation of Teachers chief Randi Weingarten joined him on stage to condemn the plan, as another opponent decried the program as “a form of racism,” “segregation,” and something to “keep the have-nots in their place.” But Cilento’s participation in the attack amounts to nothing short of a betrayal: The NYC AFL-CIO represents more than 2,000 dues-paying members who teach at one of New York’s 100-plus unionized private or parochial schools. These are some of New York’s most devoted educators; many of them forgo higher-paying gigs in public schools.
Commentary: Are Unions Rising from the Political Grave?
September 21, 2026 // Here again, however, there may be less than meets the eye. Despite its surprising bipartisan support, the FLCA would raise significant constitutional questions if enacted. By relying on a government-mandated arbitration panel to resolve labor disputes, the law effectively empowers the state to impose contractual terms on private parties—a form of what constitutional lawyers call “state action.” As attorneys Alex MacDonald and Vinnie Vernuccio observe: “[S]tate action opens the door to a slew of constitutional requirements and restrictions, notably to protect rights of free speech and association.”