Posts tagged NYC
Starbucks to pay $38.9 million settlement after it violated New York’s labor laws
December 2, 2025 // According to the settlement made public on Monday, Starbucks will pay $35.5 million to the 15,000 current and former employees who worked at the company's stores between July 2021 and July 2024. The settlement will give each of these workers $50 each week to resolve the alleged violations of the city's Fair Workweek ordinance. “With this landmark settlement, we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity,” Adams said in a statement. Additionally, Starbucks will shell out $3.4 million in civil penalties and fees, and the settlement guarantees employees laid off during recent store closings will get a chance to get reinstated at other company locations, according to the announcement.
Unions Brace to Bargain With New Boss Zohran Mamdani
December 2, 2025 // At a party during SOMOS, the annual Puerto Rico getaway for New York’s political class, District Council 37 executive director Henry Garrido proudly introduced Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to a packed outdoor crowd at the Caribe Hilton of jubilant union officials, political insiders and government lobbyists. Just days after Mamdani’s election, the public display of support from the union leader — highlighted with a hug — underscored the emerging alliance between the incoming mayor and the leader of New York City’s largest public-sector union. That bond is about to be tested, or at least leaned on more than ever before
Judge Grants Amazon Request to Block New York Labor Board Law
December 1, 2025 // Amazon won a court order temporarily blocking enforcement of New York’s statute attempting to claim jurisdiction over private-sector union disputes, which the retailer argues is preempted by federal labor law. The state law likely runs afoul of the National Labor Relations Act and should be enjoined while the legal challenge against it proceeds, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York found.
NYC legal aid union settles with lawyers who claimed anti-Israel bias
November 20, 2025 // A union representing New York-based legal aid lawyers said Thursday it will pay $315,000 to settle claims that it tried to retaliate against three of its members after they challenged the union's issuance of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and "an end to Israeli apartheid." As part of the settlement, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325, will issue a statement acknowledging that "some of the communications" around the discussion of the resolution in November and December 2023 "were hurtful to union members and inappropriate."
Mamdani’s Minimum-Wage Hike Will Hurt Young Workers Most
November 14, 2025 // The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a 10 percent rise in the minimum wage reduces teen employment by about 0.7 percent. Using the same metric, raising New York City’s wage floor 82 percent would reduce Gotham’s teen employment by roughly 5 percent to 6 percent, on average. Teenagers who manage to keep their jobs will probably see fewer hours, meaning less job experience, fewer opportunities for mentoring, and slower wage growth in the future. Young people may have shot themselves in the foot, in other words, by supporting Zohran Mamdani. The soon-to-be-mayor’s “$30 by ’30” will make New York costlier, especially for the young, the least able to afford it.
Houston police union recruits ‘disgusted’ NYPD officers after New York City elects Mamdani
November 5, 2025 // The Houston union posted another flyer which listed the benefits of their the police force. From a "36.5% pay raise just approved over 5 years" to "affordable housing" and "supportive citizens," the Houston union sought to seize on what could be a life-changing reality for cops in the Big Apple under Mamdani’s leadership.
‘Scabby the Rat’ mascot slashed outside reopening of iconic NYC eatery Babbo — sparking cops’ raid
November 3, 2025 // Then Haack said he turned to his rat and saw where the hissing sound was coming from: a fresh, 8-inch gaping hole on its right thigh. “The man who approached me is still outside and some others and they kind of chuckle, acknowledging what just happened,” Haack said. “I’m sure they at least found it funny.” Haack called 911. Within five minutes, up to 10 NYPD officer arrived at the restaurant’s Waverly Place address in squad cars with their lights and sirens blaring.
Lessons from D.C.: Why “$30 by ‘30” Wage Plan Could Leave Servers with Less
October 26, 2025 // Mr. Mamdani’s plan is being aligned with a renewed push by progressive New York legislators to eliminate the tipped-wage system, which would require restaurant workers to be paid the same minimum wage as all other tipped-wage positions. Legislation has been percolating in Albany in recent years that would phase out the tipped wage by 2028, with a prominent “Living Wage for All Coalition” now launching to guide the effort to fruition. Behind the coalition is the group One Fair Wage, which has been spearheading a systematic effort to eliminate the tipped-wage system in progressive jurisdictions across America. One Fair Wage has seen success in large cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., but as these policies take hold, the economic reality is starting to bite.
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.
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.