Posts tagged New York
The 15 Most Unionized Places in America
October 16, 2025 // To determine the most unionized locations in the U.S., researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from UnionStats.com and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The researchers ranked metropolitan statistical areas according to total union members as a percentage of total employment. In addition to union membership, the researchers also included statistics on union representation, which is the share of workers whose terms of work are collectively negotiated (whether or not they are union members). Only metropolitan statistical areas with available data were included in the analysis.
Impasse over NLRB nominee may be just what unions want
October 14, 2025 // The state laws would undermine the role of the NLRB, which was created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act and help ensure “labor peace” – i.e., more amicable relations between unions and management by creating a consistent set of rules for both sides. States could potentially give unions tremendous leverage in conflicts with management by changing the rules currently set down by the NLRB. Just having conflicting rules from region to region, for example, over which workers are eligible to organize, would create major logistical problems for interstate businesses. California’s law was heavily promoted by the Teamsters, who still represent many long-haul truckers.
Pa. House approves bill opening unemployment benefits to striking workers
October 13, 2025 // New York and New Jersey have similar laws concerning unemployment compensation, and workers in nine other states are eligible for the benefits while on strike under certain circumstances, such as an employer breaking a contract, according to the state representatives. The legislation, which passed in the House 106-97, now moves to the state Senate for consideration. A similar bill sponsored by state Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, passed through the House in 2023 but died in the Senate.
COMMENTARY: If Mamdani Wins, the Gig (Work) Is Up
October 3, 2025 // California shows the answer. In 2019, California passed a law attacking independent work. The state’s many photographers, freelance writers, translators, and designers quickly discovered that their once-lucrative work had dried up. Company after company cut jobs. The Mercatus Center found that one out of 10 self-employed jobs disappeared in short order. Even worse job losses were surely on the horizon. Recognizing the danger, California voters almost immediately passed a ballot measure that gave app-based workers and app-based companies the freedom to once again enter into freelance arrangements. The legislature then passed another law to carve out a dozen more professions. But those carve-outs didn’t apply to many other freelancers, like independent truckers, whose ability to work in California remains much more difficult. To this day, because politicians strangled freelance work, Californians have fewer of the jobs they want and need.
Zohran Mamdani joins Starbucks workers picketing for better pay in NYC
October 2, 2025 // Over a dozen Starbucks workers raised their voices and picketed outside a store in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning. It comes as New York City officials said they are aware of dozens of Starbucks that are closing as part of a $1 billion restructuring plan that will shutter more than 400 stores nationwide. The baristas were joined by mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as they highlighted their demands for fair contracts.
California to weigh in on private labor disputes if NLRB can’t
October 2, 2025 // AB 288 expands the state Public Employment Relations Board's powers over private sector labor disputes like unfair labor practice charges and enforcing collective bargaining agreements. Other blue states, including New York, are trying to expand their state labor agencies' powers over issues that would normally be decided under the National Labor Relations Act, citing Trump's antipathy to organized labor.
Editorial: The MTA needs to end insane union privileges at the commuter railroads
September 30, 2025 // In the latest sign of how badly the MTA’s labor contracts serve the public as a whole, last week brought a fresh Metro-North Railroad scandal: Two now-suspended fraudsters allegedly faked commuter station safety and equipment checks — with one “worker” dining out while on the clock. Managers discovered the scam after noticing that forms claiming the work got done at a particular time didn’t jibe with GPS records showing the inspectors’ vehicles were elsewhere.
Nurses At Long Island Jewish Medical Center To Vote On Unionizing
September 27, 2025 // The National Labor Relations Board will set the in-person vote for the nurses at the New Hyde Park hospital.
Union launches vicious $1M ad campaign against Eric Adams’ push for NYC horse carriage ban
September 25, 2025 // TWU Local 100, which reps the 170 horse carriage riders and other industry workers — many of whom are immigrants — endorsed Adams’ successful 2021 bid for mayor. Overall, the influential union represents 41,000 mostly city subway and rail workers and bus drivers.
Columbia GRADS (Graduate Researchers Against Discrimination and Suppression) Hit UAW Union With Federal Labor Board Charges
September 25, 2025 // While federal law conditions union bosses’ monopoly bargaining powers on a nebulous “duty of fair representation,” union officials often ignore this duty and discriminate against those who oppose the union’s control.