The Local: July 11, 2024 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor Working Group reporting every two weeks. Send us any tips, corrections, and other feedback to thenyclocal@substack.com. In this issue, The Local echoes NYC-DSA’s chapter statement mourning the loss of lifelong organizer Jane McAlevey, whose impact on the labor movement cannot be overstated. Sign this form to be notified of upcoming memorial events.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Organizing
Workers at SAGE – an advocacy organization for LGTBQ+ elders – have won voluntary recognition for their union represented by OPEIU Local 153.
Lieutenants and sergeants for Co-op City public safety voted voted 15-0 to join United Security Officers of America, Local 1013.
Workers at two Optum Medical Care locations (one in Cortlandt Manor and the other in Carmel) have voted 12-8 and 40-14, respectively, to join 1199SEIU.
Workers at Northwell Health - Center for Advanced Medicine Core Laboratories are organizing with 1199SEIU.
Workers at the Starbucks at 405 Broadway in Manhattan are organizing with Workers United.
Two different units of workers at recreational cannabis dispensary Gotham Caurd’s East 3rd Street location are organizing with RWDSU Local 338.
Workers at Phoenix Energy Management are organizing with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local 580.
Workers at New York Live are organizing as the Live Arts Workers Union.
A potential raid on a unit of mechanics and plant maintenance workers for UPS in Manhattan by Teamsters Local 804 (IAM District 15 is listed as the intervenor). Last month it was reported that the Teamsters ended their no raid pact with the Machinists.
Bargaining & Action
06/26: The Independent Drivers Guild, a group created by the Machinists Union advocating for Uber and Lyft drivers, rallied outside Uber’s headquarters in Long Island City in protest of the company’s practice of locking drivers out of its app during low-demand periods. [LIC Post]
06/27: The Bronx Defenders Union ALAA 2325 announced their strike authorization vote passed by 93%. The union will hold practice pickets on July 10th and 17th ahead of their strike deadline of the 22nd.
06/28: PEN America United with UAW authorized a strike by 100%.
07/02: Sierra Club’s Progressive Workers Union announced a tentative agreement, averting a strike.
07/05: NewsGuild NY workers under Reviewed, a section of USA Today, went on strike.
07/08: Ziff Davis Creators Guild also with NewsGuild NY representing workers of Lifehacker, Mashable, and PCMag under parent company Ziff Davis held informational pickets and passed out flyers.
07/10: The 405 Broadway Starbucks in Manhattan held a sip-in after workers faced 2 firings and collective write ups as retaliation for filing for an election.
07/10: 32BJ SEIU cleaners are on strike in Manhattan’s Diamond District 529 First Avenue after wages were cut and health insurance was canceled. [AMNY]
07/17: Workers of Think Coffee at 248 Mercer St will be hosting a sip-in from 8am-2pm to pressure the company to stop their union busting.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Albany
The New York Department of Labor over the last two years collected $63 million for 65,000 workers in wage theft. [NY Labor Today]
Letitia James, the state’s Attorney General, and Brad Lander, the NYC’s Comptroller, joined dozens of other local and state agencies in writing a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that would extend the two-year window for immigrants to help with labor investigations to four years. [The Chief Leader]
500 New Jersey Transit engineers with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are close to striking after the National Mediation Board concluded four years of bargaining without reaching a deal since their last contract expired in December 2019. [The Chief Leader]
City Hall
The Adams administration takes its legal bid to privatize Medicare for city retirees to the state’s highest court. [The Chief Leader]
The Public Employment Relations Board (which has general authority over public sector relations in New York) is pressuring the NYC Office of Collective Bargaining (which handles city labor relations) to make it easier for individual public sector workers to get their unions decertified. Amidst the dispute, both the chair and general counsel of PERB have left the agency. [The Chief Leader]
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Miscellaneous
The New York State Comptroller’s office released a report on the state of the tourism industry. The report shows that while the gross domestic product of the industry is back to pre-pandemic levels, employment hasn’t yet recovered. And that there are regional quirks where Long Island is faring better than more central and western parts of the state.
Cortlandt County public sector retirees also faced Medicare privatization. They fought it — and won. [New York State Focus]
The UAW’s federal monitor (appointed after a major criminal investigation into the union under the previous administration) seeks troves of documents in order to investigate allegations of misconduct by top UAW officials. The UAW wants to protect sensitive internal documents relating to strategy. There is also a recent history of the federal monitor pressuring UAW leadership over their advocacy for peace in Gaza. [Law360; Detroit News]
The US Supreme Court ends another historic term by attacking the power of the federal administrative state. Those decisions may have implications for federal agencies handling labor issues, like the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor. [OnLabor]
Job Listings
Local Representative - The NewsGuild of New York (Salary $93,000 - $106,000)
Records Analyst - Department of Records & Information Services (Salary: $72,774 - $83,690)
Graphic Designer / Content Producer - NYC Comptroller (Salary: $60,000 - $70,000)
Bilingual Internal Organizer - Workers United New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board a/w SEIU (Salary: $75,000 - $85,0000
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.