Posts tagged NYC
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.
Teachers unions, not racism, are failing New York City’s black students
September 22, 2026 // The problem is accountability. New York’s government unions fight against being held responsible for their failures at every stage. Tenured teachers can be dismissed only for cause after a formal proceeding before an arbitrator. They ordinarily remain paid during reassignment and receive union-provided legal representation. Seniority rules can force schools to release newer teachers who may be good rather than ineffective veterans who either cannot or will not do their jobs. Excessed teachers can be placed in other district schools rather than removed from the system.
NLRB official says Stanford residential advisers can unionize
September 16, 2026 // A National Labor Relations Board official has ruled that student residential advisers at Stanford University are the school's employees and can vote on whether to join a union, teeing up review by the board on the novel issue. Regional Director Christy Kwon in Oakland said in the decision, opens new tab released on Saturday that more than 430 "residential student leaders" perform services under the control of Stanford for which they are compensated, making them employees under federal labor law.
Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum unions vote for strikes
September 15, 2026 // Meanwhile, the months leading up to today's announcement have been fraught for the Brooklyn Museum unions. Last year, museum leadership reversed plans to lay off more than a dozen workers following a $2.5 million grant from the New York City Council. Citing a widening deficit, the Brooklyn Museum had announced plans to cut more than 10 percent of its staff in February 2025, prompting backlash from the two unions representing museum workers, DC 37 Local 1502 and UAW Local 2110. The unions said the cuts had been announced without attempts to negotiate with their bargaining units.
Editorial Board: $10,000 bonuses teach Mamdani a lesson about the teachers union
September 9, 2026 // Compensation changes for unionized city employees are usually negotiated through collective bargaining between the city and organized labor, but the United Federation of Teachers instead pushed the measure through the City Council. UFT President Michael Mulgrew threatened “all-out war” against Mamdani if he opposed the payouts to school paraprofessionals.
Mamdani creates new DSA-inspired office to help NYC workers unionize: ‘Concerning for small business’
September 9, 2026 // The office will hold hearings on “worker issues” and develop policy proposals based on testimony from employees. It will also give out information about workers’ rights and help connect employees interested in starting unions with organizations that can help them, City Hall said. Tony Perlstein, a former dockworker, union organizer and deputy director of communications for the national lefty organizing group Center for Popular Democracy, will run the office. It’s not clear if anyone else will be hired to staff the office, or how much its budget will be. Perlstein will report to Mamdani’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, previously a cabinet official under President Joe Biden.
Starbucks dress code didn’t violate NYC workers’ labor rights, appeals court rules
September 4, 2026 // The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said the National Labor Relations Board failed to properly balance Starbucks' ability to present its preferred image to customers with its workers' rights to encourage unionizing.
Mamdani Clashes With Teachers Union, Citing Fiscal Constraints
August 30, 2026 // Michael Mulgrew, the president of the 200,000-member teachers union, threatened an “all-out war” if Mamdani tried to stop the legislation in a New York Times interview earlier this summer. “It’s always surprising when you see a big rift between the teachers unions and Democratic politicians, especially a pretty far-left Democratic politician,” said Michael Petrilli, president of Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education reform think tank. “Conventional wisdom would say that Democratic politicians try not to get sideways with important parts of their constituency and the teachers unions are such an important base.” The fight has also exposed the realities Mamdani faces now that he is in office to follow through on campaign promises when faced with fiscal constraints.
Commentary: And Now, Chicago
August 28, 2026 // These “core services” bills are yet another variation on trying to achieve the goals that unionists detailed in 2018, when they called for “admittedly radically different” policies to try and shift entire industries into unionizable employee status. You don’t have to be a genius to anticipate that more “core services” bills are about to pop up in more cities soon.
This Mamdani-Backed Bill Would Kill Jobs, Boost Unions, and Make Deliveries More Expensive
August 25, 2026 // The misleadingly named "Delivery Protection Act" would require companies like Amazon and FedEx to directly hire employees for last-mile delivery, rather than contracting this service out to subcontractors.