The Local: Apr 18, 2024 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor reporting every two weeks. Send tips, corrections, and other feedback to thenyclocal@substack.com. In this issue, grad workers at Fordham and writers at Sesame Street authorize strikes, city council staffers ratify their first contract, and the legal organization behind the Janus decision now brings a lawsuit against UAW Local 2325 over their pro-Palestine resolution. Also, we at The Local hope to catch you at Labor Notes 2024 this weekend!
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Organizing
The UAW cinematic universe continues to expand as workers at Cinema Village petition for an election to join UAW Local 2179.
Postdocs at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx are also organizing with the UAW.
Drivers at SkyHop Global are organizing with Teamsters Local 210.
Workers at Weill Cornell Medicine are organizing with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 30.
22 workers at Partners Coffee in Williamsburg are looking to unionize with UFCW Local 1500.
Someone has filed a decertification petition for a unit of drivers repped by IBEW Local 1430 at Dairyland USA Corp.
A unit of resident assistants at NYU has collected authorization cards from a supermajority of workers and is organizing as SWAN.
Bargaining & Action
Fordham Graduate Student Workers-CWA voted by 98% to authorize a strike.
The NYC Council Union, Association of Legislative Employees, ratified its first contract by 95%.
Television show Sesame Street writers unionized with WGA East and West voted unanimously, at 100% participation, to authorize a strike.
PEN America United with UAW 2320 rallied outside PEN America headquarters downtown on April 17 in response to more than 18 months of bargaining and two ULPs.
Albany
Earlier this week Kathy Hochul announced a $237 billion budget agreement that, as part of a broader housing deal, would roll back rent stabilization improvements won in 2019, pass a version of good cause that would carve out large swaths of tenants, and replace 421-a with a new subsidy program for developers. The building trades unions that were negotiating with real estate industry groups appeared happy with the raised salary floor on potential new construction. [City and State]
City Hall
The city looks to open an e-bike charging station for delivery workers near City Hall. [Gothamist]
City Council passes a law voiding contracts that reduce the time that workers have to file discrimination complaints. The bill heads to Mayor Adams’ desk for review. [Gothamist]
After the Department of Sanitation took over enforcement of street vending laws, tickets have spiked in the Bronx while declining in other boroughs. [The City]
As more people are struck by subway trains, the episodes are taking a toll on subway operators. [The City]
Yet another consequence of the budget cuts imposed late last year – FDNY fire protection inspectors are not being fully compensated for overtime inspection work. [The Chief Leader]
Home health care workers are tabling at City Hall at lunchtime on Tuesdays - Thursdays, building up to a May Day rally at City Hall to protest the practice of 24-hour shifts. [Ain’t I A Woman Campaign]
A profile of Marianne Pizzitola, the former FDNY EMT and AFSCME Local 2507 member who, as president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, has been battling the city (and the big municipal labor unions) to stop Medicare privatization. [The Chief Leader]
The ex-president of the United Probation Officers Association pled guilty in federal court after being accused of defrauding the union of about $750k. [The Chief Leader]
The City Comptroller’s office reached a $119k settlement with a Queens condo association and property manager that failed to pay its workers the prevailing wage, as required by the terms of its 421-a subsidy.
Miscellaneous
Two legal aid lawyers represented by the Liberty Justice Center (of Janus v. AFSCME fame) are suing UAW Local 2325 and the Legal Aid Society based on the union’s ongoing collection of dues while also passing a resolution in support of Palestinian liberation. [Reuters]
The NYC Comptroller’s office put out a brief report on the economic impact of CUNY on the city. The report noted how the higher system continues to offer much support for the city’s working class population, who often then continue to stay and work in the city. The review closed by offering support for both Zohran Mamdani’s bill to tax NYU and Columbia to fund CUNY along with the New Deal for CUNY legislation, a long standing bill that DSA’s supported.
Womens’ college hoops star Caitlin Clark was the #1 overall draft pick in the 2024 WNBA draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday night. Under the WNBA rookie wage scale, she’ll be making $76,535 in her first year with the Indiana Fever. [NBC News]
The New York state Education Department and CUNY School of Law produced an over 300 page report examining the state of mayoral control of school. The report was immediately denigrated by Eric Adams, but most neutral commentators said it didn’t lampoon or bolster current mayoral control. It expressed deep dissatisfaction with the current set-up but also questioned the impact a single mayoralty can have over much touted issues like student testing. [Chalkbeat]
Jane McAlevey – veteran organizer, labor educator, theorist, and author of classic books such as No Shortcuts – announced that she is moving to hospice care after a years-long battle with cancer. The New Yorker recently wrote about her impact on a new generation of militant rank-and-file workers.
Job Listings
Associate Staff Analyst - NYC’s Office of Labor Relations (Salary: $77,158 – $114,887)
Business Representative - SAG-AFTRA (Salary: $62,407.80)
Organizer - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys UAW Local 2325 (Salary: $76,000 - $94,000)
Researcher / Research Analyst I / Research Analyst II - 32BJ SEIU (Salaries: $63,314 / $69,917 / $77,353)
If you’re interested in learning more about New York City’s civil service exams, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services will be hosting two information sessions on May 8th at 5:30pm and another on May 10th at 10:30am.
A full list of local union jobs can be found at unionjobs.com, alongside here is the complete list of NYC civil service exams. (April isn’t a great month for exams.) Additionally if you’re interested in taking a job in a strategic industry and want to be connected through the Labor Working Group, check out this form here.