The Local: Mar 21, 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, the American Guild of Musical Artists and Teamsters Local 553 is on the move with some new organizing, the lifeguard insurgency at DC 37 continues, and the ACLU joins SpaceX, Amazon, Starbucks, and Trader Joe’s in bringing some bold legal challenges to the NLRB’s authority.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Organizing
Workers at Nitehawk Cinemas in Brooklyn voted 51-41 to join UAW Local 2179.
Plumbers and helpers at Everyday Mechanical Corp. voted 4-3 to join Plumbers Local Union No. 1.
Workers at the Dance Theatre of Harlem voted 17-0 to join the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). Faculty at the School of American Ballet also voted 13-3 to join AGMA.
Workers at the Upper West Side Barnes and Noble voted 34-6 to join RWDSU.
Mechanics and technicians at Data Device Corporation voted 4-1 to join the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30.
A slew of elections at different locations for Care Found Here, a service provider for unhoused people. In addition to the victory we reported in the last issue, DC 37 won two elections in Brooklyn (9-0 and 4-0) and one in Manhattan (22-0). A second Manhattan vote ended in a 3-3 deadlock, with objections filed afterward.
Starbucks has filed for an election at a Gowanus location, where workers have been organizing with Starbucks Workers United.
Drivers at PetroChoice in Staten Island are organizing with Teamsters Local 553.
Workers at two Planned Parenthood locations are organizing with 1199SEIU.
Security guards at Grand Central Partnership (the private organization that manages the business improvement district around Grand Central Station in midtown) are organizing with the Federal Contract Guards of America.
Workers at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House are organizing with Local 1707 of DC 37.
Teamsters Local 813 might be engaging in a raid of a unit of 130 workers at city sanitation contractor Cogent Waste (recently the subject of a bunch of fines); Local 890 LIFE Plant Waste Services is listed as intervenor.
Workers at Allied New York Services (an airport contractor responsible for fueling planes) are organizing with Teamsters Local 553.
Two different units of workers at climbing gym Cliffs of Long Island City (one for supervisors-on-duty and the other for other workers) are organizing with Workers United.
Workers at Partners Retail Coffee are organizing with UFCW Local 1500.
Workers at business publication MarketWatch NYC are joining the union for employees at Dow Jones (which owns MarketWatch), IAPE (NewsGuild-CWA Local 1096). The unit has asked Dow Jones management for voluntary recognition.
Bargaining & Action
The Ringer Union with WGA East ratified a new contract with 100% yes votes.
The New York Times Tech Guild with NewsGuildNY practice-picketed the NYT offices on March 14 during the company’s “The State of the Times” event.
1,300 NYSNA members at Northwell Health's Staten Island University Hospital voted by 97% to authorize a strike.
Academic student workers at The New School with UAW Local 7902 reached a tentative agreement after three days on strike.
Fordham Graduate Student Workers with CWA Local 1101 picketed the Founder’s donor dinner after 18 months of bargaining and multiple unfair labor practice filings.
Mobilization for Justice union with UAW rallied at City Hall on March 19 after four weeks on strike.
The Law360 Union walked out on a one-day strike March 20 in protest of layoffs during bargaining.
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Albany
The Human Services Council is repeatedly lobbying Albany to provide a 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment to help the 800,000 workers in New York state. The push is supported by the labor chair Harry Bronson, but the HSC is also pushing for a wage board to help prevent wages from again reaching these levels of stagnation. [Spectrum News]
Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner is pushing a number of bills that would attempt to improve access to dentists for rural New Yorkers. The bills range from helping relieve student debt, tax exemptions, and adjustment to how insurance providers deal with dental coverage. Dentists, while welcoming of the attention, weren’t quite sure if these solutions would help the shortage. [Spectrum News]
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Teamsters Joint Council 16 released a joint statement pressuring the state legislature to pass the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, which “requires employers to establish an injury reduction program designed to identify and minimize the risks of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders”.
City Hall
Two new developments in the saga of the insurgent slate of rank-and-file lifeguards seeking to lead DC 37’s Local 461. While the Court of Appeals has denied the petition we wrote about in the last issue, the court nonetheless affirmed the right of public sector workers to sue their unions for injunctive relief (i.e., to get their officers to do or not do something, as opposed to getting money damages). In a parallel dispute, the same slate of lifeguards is challenging Local 461’s ineligibility determination based on the temporary placement of the lifeguards in supervisory positions, which made them members of another DC 37 local, Local 508, for part of the last year. A member of the insurgent slate believes that the temporary promotions were specifically intended to render the slate ineligible for the ballot. [The Chief Leader]
FDNY EMS workers and their union (DC 37 Local 2507) have sued the FDNY for discriminating against them relative to the firefighters who work in the department. EMS workers represented by 2507 are disproportionately women and non-white compared to the far better paid firefighters. Local 2507 has had success with similar employment discrimination suits against the city in the past. [The Chief Leader]
Photo Credit: Alexandra Chan
Miscellaneous
The New York Times reported on remote work trends showing that the vast majority of workers (80%) do not work remote or hybrid; but those that do are more likely college educated. [The New York Times]
Trader Joe’s and Starbucks made headlines earlier this year when, despite their (former?) liberal-coded reputations, they began arguing in legal proceedings that the NLRB was unconstitutional (SpaceX and Amazon have made similar arguments). These constitutional challenges, which might have been inspired by this November 10, 2023 blog post for the right-wing Federalist Society, threaten to undo the legal enforcement machinery for union organizing in the private sector. Now joining the fray is the American Civil Liberties Union, which is currently involved in a dispute with its staff union over the allegedly retaliatory firing of an employee. In addition to arguing that the Biden NLRB’s actions are unconstitutional (the ACLU now claims they withdrew that argument), the ACLU is also arguing that the employee should not be able to pursue an unfair labor practice charge at the NLRB because the ACLU and the staff union should be able to resolve it in private arbitration. [NLRB Edge]
Job Listings - David T.
New section alert! We’re gonna start doing a brief highlight of city civil service exams and relevant union staff job postings. 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.
If you have any thoughts or know of any jobs you’d like to highlight, please let us know.
Data Analyst - 1199SEIU (Listed Salary: None)
Business Representative - IATSE Local 600 (Listed Salary: $67,531 to $106,923)
Business Representative - American Federation of Musicians Local 802 (Listed Salary: $66,070.16)
March NYC Civil Service Exams titles include:
A full list of local union jobs can be found at unionjobs.com, alongside here is the complete list of NYC civil service exams.