The Local: May 2, 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. Happy belated May Day! In this issue, charter school workers in Brooklyn organize with the UFT, the master contract for 20,000 security guards and officers citywide repped by 32BJ has expired, and CUNY workers announce a wildcat sickout as the NYPD and management brutally repress student pro-Palestine encampments.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Organizing
A potential raid is occurring on a unit of workers at NAP Industries Group in Brooklyn. Notably, two different UFCW locals are listed – Local 342 has filed the petition to represent the unit, and Local 888 is the intervenor.
A unit of education professionals at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School are organizing with the UFT.
Two units – one for faculty and the other for other staff – at New York Film Academy are organizing with the Association of Teachers and Staff at NYFA (UAW).
Student resident assistants at NYU have formally filed an NLRB petition to organize an independent union.
Service technicians at the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Manhattan are organizing with UAW Local 259.
Two separate petitions have been filed in what appears to be a raid by the League of International Federate Employees (LIFE?) on a unit of building service workers at UPACA Site7 currently repped by Teamsters Local 810.
Workers at DistroKid have voted 45-28 to join the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians (NABET).
Workers at Skid Row Downtown LLC (of Little Shop of Horrors fame) have voted 16-1 to join IATSE.
Workers at climbing gym Cliffs of Long Island City have voted 36-6 to join Workers United.
Security guards at Grand Central Partnership have voted 12-4-1 to join the Federal Contract Guards of America (that is, 12 voted to join the FCGOA, 4 voted to join the Special and Superior Officers Benevolent Association, and 1 voted against both options).
Cinema Village workers have voted 3-0 to join UAW Local 2179.
Art handlers at Bonhams auction house have voted 5-0 to join Teamsters Local 814.
A unit of workers at A. Esteban and Company have voted 11-0 to decertify Teamsters Local 810 as their bargaining unit representative.
Another unit of workers at nonprofit Lenox Hill Neighborhood House voted to decertify Local 95, DC 37/1707 AFSCME as their bargaining unit representative (as there are two separate vote tallies for the same unit, please drop us a line if you have any further info on what happened here).
Bargaining & Action
Sesame Workshop Writers with WGA East reached a tentative agreement on April 19.
REI Union asked co-op members and supporters to submit the same question to REI’s Board of Directors in support of a fair contract ahead of the company’s annual meeting on May 9th.
After months of unsuccessful bargaining and many threats of layoffs, The Condé Union with NewsGuild NY representing workers at Condé Nast brands such as Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour, Bon Appétit are ready to walk off the job as the Met Gala approaches.
Fordham Graduate Student Workers CWA 1104 reached a tentative agreement after 19 months of bargaining on April 22.
The Mobilization for Justice Union UAW 2320 marked 60 days on strike on April 26.
On the same day, UAW Region 9A held a “Stand Up for Members, Stand Up for Gaza” rally in Washington Square Park.
Actors’ Equity Association has indicated to The Broadway League they will no longer issue contracts for work on the Development Agreement, which handles new shows, if significant progress is not made upon a deadline of June 17.
Guggenheim Museum art handlers and facilities workers with IUOE Local 30 rallied for a fair contract during lunch break April 19.
32BJ SEIU security officers and allies rallied on April 25 at Bryant Park as a contract was set to expire for 20,000 NYC members on April 30.
The iHeart Podcast Union with WGA East filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge for intimidation against iHeartMedia
CUNY workers announced a wildcat sickout after the NYPD arrested over 100 community members on April 30, which would be the first job action in PSC-CUNY’s 52 years. PSC-CUNY has released a statement disavowing the sickout.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Albany
Public sector unions across the state applauded a small pension reform win, which will update pension calculation to include one’s top three earnings, rather than five. This will result in increased payments and inch Tier 6 pensions towards Tier 4, though there is still a that needs to be addressed.
1199SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association, a trade association for New York hospitals, spent millions to advertise and lobby Kathy Hochul and the legislature to not go through a proposed $1.2 billion cut. Instead the state budget included a tax on health insurance providers that will eventually be paid for by the state from federal aid. (New York Focus reported that GNYHA spends more on lobbying than any other group in the state.) [Work Bites]
Even though labor unions were frequently mentioned in the housing agreement for the state budget, many within the Building Trades Council weren’t impressed by the wages (a $40/hr minimum) they got in the end. [City and State]
Pregnant MTA bus operators are suing the MTA for forcing them to use paid time off instead of reassigning them to light duty positions (which is the policy for pregnant subway operators). [The City]
City Hall
The City Comptroller’s office found a staffing company that sent 332 temporary clerical workers to five NYC Health + Hospitals facilities from 2015-2018 misclassified them in lower-paid positions despite the higher level of duties performed. The company owes workers $2.7 million. [The Chief Leader]
NYCHA workers represented by DC 37 now have the option to telework up to two days a week. DC 37 also dropped a complaint of bad faith bargaining as part of the agreement. [The Chief Leader]
The NYPD makes back-to-back raids on unlicensed street vendors along Roosevelt Ave (by the 7 train) in Jackson Heights and Corona. [The City]
With all these raids against students and street vendors going on, the biggest cop union is suing the city over its zero-tolerance policy towards anabolic steroids. [NY Daily News]
A City Council report finds that workers of color in city government earn 84 cents on the dollar compared to white city workers. [Gothamist]
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Miscellaneous
Big news from the South – UAW wins its election at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga by a landslide 2,628-985 vote. Next up: Mercedes-Benz in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [Labor Notes]
The New York Healthy Nails Coalition issues a horrifying report about the effect of harsh chemicals on nail salon workers’ reproductive health.
MTA bus operators refuse to transport arrested protesters from a Jewish Voice for Peace rally in Brooklyn after the NYPD commandeered their buses, so the cops had to do it themselves (unclear whether the cop-driver had a CDL). [Hell Gate]
“More than one in five [NYC] food delivery app workers said they had been injured while working, and roughly the same number said they had been assaulted.” [Gothamist]
Job Listings
Organizer - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys UAW Local 2325 (Salary: $76,000 - $94,000)
Organizer - New York State Nurses Association (Salary: $89,000 - $101,000)
Organizer - One Fair Wage (Salary: $60,000 - $65,000)
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 complete list of local union jobs can be found at unionjobs.com, alongside here is the complete list of NYC civil service 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.