The Local: Mar. 20, 2025 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor Working Group reporting every two weeks. We’re also interested in recruiting new writers for this newsletter so reach us at thenyclocal@substack.com, along with any tips, corrections, and other feedback. In this issue, repression of pro-Palestine activism at Columbia University escalates, with ICE kidnapping graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and Columbia firing UAW Local 2710 president Grant Miner; the state fires over 2,000 corrections officers over their wildcat strike; and the city’s major labor unions mostly avoid endorsing in the mayoral election (for now).
Photo by Alexandra Chan at the “Stop the Cuts” march on 03/15.
Organizing (asterisks indicate employer-filed petitions for union election)
Workers at Citywide Mobile Response Corp in the Bronx voted 116-8 to join 1199SEIU.
Workers at the LGBT Center are organizing with CWA Local 1180.
Workers at the Icahn School of Medicine are organizing with the UAW.
Workers at the Sesame Workshop are organizing with OPEIU Local 153; Sesame Workshop management also drops a petition for a union election but with a smaller bargaining unit.
Workers at The Juilliard School are organizing with IATSE.
Workers at the South Street Seaport Museum are organizing with UAW Local 2110.
Workers at air logistics firm AGI Cargo are organizing with the Amalgamated Production Workers, Local 22.
Workers at the School of Visual Arts are organizing with the UAW.
A decertification petition has been filed for a unit of workers at Corporate Coffee Systems in Midtown; the unit is currently repped by Teamsters Local 804.
Bargaining & Action
03/06: Barnes & Noble workers with RWDSU have ratified first contracts at three NYC Barnes & Noble stores
03/06: Hudson Valley News Guild and APP-MCJ Guild with NewsGuild NY have ratified their contracts.
03/09: DC37 Local 1502 and Brooklyn Museum reached an agreement that avoids layoffs of nearly 50 workers.
03/11: IATSE and the Atlantic Theater Company reached a tentative agreement.
03/16: Ceasar’s Bay Starbucks reopened after over a month of being closed for renovations and hosted a Solidarity sip-in.
03/17: Northwell/South Shore University Hospital NYSNA Nurses ratified a new contract.
03/19: 32BJ Staff Union held a ULP rally after filing ULPs against 32BJ SEIU.
03/19: United Flight Attendants host a day of action, including picketing at LaGuardia.
03/20: American Postal Workers Union rally at the James A. Farley Post Office for a Day of Action to stand against the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service.
03/23: The National Association of Letter Carriers hosts a nationwide "Fight Like Hell!" rally to oppose efforts to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service. Branch 36 will rally at 909 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022, at noon.
03/26: Federation of Government Employees Locals 862 and 1667 at the Brooklyn VA will rally in support of veterans and workers.
Photo by Alexandra Chan at a Columbia University rally 03/14.
Albany
The state-wide wildcat prison guard strike seems to come to a gruesome conclusion – the state has agreed to temporarily suspend the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement, or HALT ACT, and set a deadline of Monday, March 10 for striking guards to return to work. About 2,000 guards continued the work stoppage; Gov. Hochul promptly fired them and barred them from future state employment in corrections or law enforcement positions. [The New York Times]
City Hall
Teamsters Local 237 endorses Andrew Cuomo for this year’s mayoral election. However, many major unions are waiting to endorse in the primary for now (UFT president Michael Mulgrew says: “We believe this race will come down to the last three weeks”). [The City]
An estimated 20,000 taxi drivers will receive about $140 million in backpay after reaching a settlement with the Taxi and Limousine Commission; the Commission had previously been found to have violated drivers’ constitutional rights by suspending their licenses following an arrest, even if the arrest was for charges that were dismissed or minor infractions. [Gothamist]
The city will begin allowing mopeds on the roadways of the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges; the rule change is intended to help delivery workers, who are currently being forced to illegally use the bike lanes on the bridges to make deliveries across the East River. [Gothamist]
Photo by Alexandra Chan at the “Stop the Cuts” march on 03/15.
Miscellaneous
Trump’s tariffs hurt NYC businesses – especially businesses in Chinatown – while Trump’s threats toward Canada hurt Canadian tourism to New York state. [The City; NBC News; The New York Times]
The Comptroller releases a report showing that NYC tourism had already been struggling, as tourism-related jobs have failed to make a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in plainclothes arrest Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident (also known as a green card holder) of the United States. A New York federal judge has blocked Khalil’s deportation for now and transferred the case to New Jersey, where Khalil was briefly held in an ICE detention facility before being transferred – without notice to his family or his lawyers – to another facility in Louisiana. [Reuters]
The Trump administration then threatened $400 million of federal funding to Columbia, immediately after which Columbia stepped up its crackdown on student activists, firing UAW Local 2710 President Grant Miner and cancelling bargaining. ICE agents reportedly continue to roam Columbia’s campus hunting for international students. [The New York Times; Gothamist]
The Trump administration’s assault on the federal workforce continues, but with some setbacks in recent weeks:
The Department of Homeland Security unilaterally cancels the Transportation Security Agency collective bargaining agreement, affecting 50,000 TSA workers.
The administration ends Biden-era executive orders setting a $15 minimum wage for employees of federal contractors and setting preferences for unionized contractors and contractors with apprenticeship programs. [OnLabor]
A California federal judge orders the reinstatement of tens of thousands of federal probationary employees. [NBC News]
Federal judges also reinstate Federal Labor Relations Authority member Susan Grundmann and National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox; with Wilcox’s return to the NLRB in particular, the Board now has quorum again and has begun issuing decisions. [NBC News]
US Postmaster General Louis Dejoy announces that the Postal Service is partnering with Elon Musk’s DOGE and cutting 10,000 jobs. [CBS News]
Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been sworn in as the new Secretary of Labor.
Last, numerous state governments, including New York, are actively recruiting laid off federal workers to fill the many vacancies that exist across municipal governments. [The New York Times]
Job Listings
Contracts Coordinator - Directors Guild of America (Salary: $73,000 - $77,000)
Database Developer - SEIU 32BJ (Salary: $90,000)
Field Coordinator - Zohran Mamdani Campaign (Salary: $5,833/month)
Citywide Volunteer Coordinator - Zohran Mamdani Campaign (Salary: $5,833/month)
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.