The Local: August 22, 2024 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor Working Group reporting every two weeks. Send any tips, corrections, and other feedback to thenyclocal@substack.com. In this issue, workers at the Bill T. Jones dance company unionize, workers represented by UAW at Cornell go out on strike as students move in, and staffers at 32BJ seek to join New York NewsGuild.
Photo Credit: Scott Heins
Organizing
Workers for the Bill T. Jones dance company have won their first two elections in an EWOC-supported campaign. A unit of dancers voted 13-0 and a unit of support staff voted 11-2 to form the Live Arts Workers Union.
Meanwhile, a rare loss for Starbucks Workers United as workers at the 1 Liberty Plaza location vote 8-3 against unionization.
Workers at the Bo Bo Poultry Market in Brooklyn vote 11-2 to decertify IBEW Local 1430 as their union.
Another unit clarification petition at an Adapt Community Network location, this time in the Bronx, has been filed by NYSUT and the UFT.
Registered nurses at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks are organizing with 1199SEIU.
Recreational and activity aides at the Linden Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation are organizing with 1199SEIU.
Postdoc researchers at the Rockefeller University are organizing with the UAW.
Building service workers at the 257 West 17th Street Condominiums, Equity Residential Services, and 368 Third Avenue Condominium are organizing with SEIU Local 32BJ.
And staffers at 32BJ – one of the most prolific organizers of new bargaining units in the city – are organizing themselves with New York NewsGuild (CWA).
Bargaining & Action
7/30: TWU Local 1460 – which represents Amtrak workers on the Northeast Corridor – strike a deal for a 34 percent compounded wage increase over seven years, 10 weeks’ paid parental leave, and no increases to health care costs.
08/08: The Bird Union, which represents the National Audubon Society, authorized a strike after two years of bargaining.
08/15: The Crooked Media Workers Union ratified their first contract with 100% participation and approval.
8/16: Writers at local PBS affiliate PBS-WNET Thirteen (repped by WGA East) call on management to agree to a fair contract and cease their union-busting.
8/18: Over 1,000 workers at Cornell University, represented by the UAW, are now on strike after contract negotiations break down.
8/18: The New York Taxi Workers Alliance escorts the #NotAnotherBomb demonstration calling for an end to military support for Israel.
8/19: Probation officers reach a deal for a new contract with the city.
8/19: Workers at legal news outlet Law360 (repped by NY NewsGuild) threaten to strike in September if a new contract cannot be negotiated.
8/20: Nurses at Albany Medical Center (repped by NYSNA) are on strike.
9/7: The city’s labor unions gear up for the annual Labor Day parade in Manhattan on Saturday, September 7.
Photo Credit: Scott Heins
Albany
The Department of Labor, following reporting by The City, released guidance for employers to better treat working enduring extreme heat. This comes after extensive research shows health risks for those working prolonged hours in the heat. [The City]
Home health workers allege that the Chinese-American Planning Council may have pushed the state Department of Labor to spike its wage theft investigation into the services provider. [Work Bites]
The state Public Employment Relations Board (which is now also responsible for overseeing farmworker organizing) issues a series of victories for the United Farm Workers as the union attempts to organize seasonal and H2A temporary farmworkers in New York.
City Hall
DC 37 Locals 2507 and 3621 that represent EMS workers are demanding that the city pay its workers based on the uniformed pattern, rather than the civilian one that’s currently being offered. They’re also demanding pay that’s the equivalent of FDNY firefighters, the city didn’t offer any comment on the ongoing talks. [The Chief Leader]
Street vendor advocates continue to lobby the city to increase the number of permits for street vendors, a long standing demand as the waiting list for a permit includes over 20,000 applications. [The Chief Leader]
Miscellaneous
New York-Presbyterian Hospital is challenging a court ruling that awarded the New York State Nurse Association nearly $300,000 due to the hospital’s lack of proper ICU staffing. [Politico Pro]
The New York City Comptroller’s office put out a report on the final NYC Fiscal Year adopted budget, which included a couple notable trends in the city’s workforce. The report notes that in the FY 2025 nearly all job gains were in low wage home health care work mostly funded through continued state expansion of medicaid; while financial and information services jobs are still struggling from the post-COVID collapse that saw widespread layoffs in those industries. Last, the report noted that while NYC’s unemployment is higher than the nation’s average, the percent of people employed is now higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Last time, we noted that janitorial workers at Nelson Services Systems – a ConEd contractor – had voted to join the Utility Workers Union of America. Now the workers are also hoping to get Nelson booted for its failure to pay prevailing wages. [The Chief Leader]
Dangerous “near-miss” incidents at the MTA are up nearly 60% according to a federal audit. [The City]
Job Listings
Statewide Organizer - CSEA Local 1000 AFSCME (Salary: $71,098 - $83,341)
Deputy Political Action & Legislation Director - District Council 37 - (Salary: $100,000 - $115,000)
Temporary Civic Engagement/Chapter Coordinators - Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (Salary: $30 hour)
The NLRB is also hiring around the country!
A complete list of local union jobs can be found at unionjobs.com, alongside here is the complete list of New York City’s 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.