The Local: Mar. 6, 2025 news roundup
Welcome back to The Local, a publication of NYC-DSA Labor Working Group reporting every two weeks. As always, send any tips, corrections, and other feedback to thenyclocal@substack.com. In this issue, New York City sees the beginnings of an NLRB election drought, the state expands solitary confinement and prison guards kill another inmate amidst a state-wide wildcat correctional officer strike, and construction worker deaths surge in NYC and across the state. Also, join us at noon today for a solidarity rally with DC37 and UAW in support of our Brooklyn Museum workers!
Photo by Alexandra Chan at Alexa Avilés’ petitioning launch.
Organizing (asterisks indicate employer-filed petitions for union election)
In what may very well be the first in our (admittedly brief) time running this newsletter, February 2025 came and went without a single NLRB election in the city for the entire month.
In a rerun election, workers at Precision Strategies LLC voted 6-5 to join the CWA on March 3. The last NLRB election in the city before that was the 6-1 32BJ victory at Park and 28th Street Condominium on January 29 (covered in our Feb. 6 issue).
Similarly, in what might be another first for us, there has not been a single union representation petition filed in NYC for the past two weeks. The last such petition was filed on Feb. 18, for a unit of Starbucks workers in Ridgewood organizing with Workers United (covered in our Feb. 20 issue).
Although they have not yet filed an NLRB petition, workers at the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street are organizing with OPEIU Local 153 and demanding voluntary recognition.
However, some new private sector organizing in the suburbs continues, with a big 1199SEIU victory at an Optum Care location in Middletown (553-295 in favor of the union) on Feb. 25 and petitions for new units filed at BakeMark in Haupaugge (Consolidated Commercial Workers of America Local 528), Starbucks in Bellmore (Workers United), the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale (AFM Local 802), and Unified Door and Hardware Group in Port Washington (United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America).
If you have any insight into what might be going on here, please drop us a tip.
Bargaining & Action
02/21: WGA East members at the podcast production company Pushkin Industries delivered a strike pledge to management demanding a fair contract after more than a year of bargaining.
02/24: All shops of the Legal Services Staff Association UAW 2320 walked out for a fair contract.
02/25: The New York Mag Union with NewsGuild NY voted to ratify their second contract.
02/25: The 32BJ SEIU Staff Union authorized WBNG to file a ULP against 32BJ SEIU management alleging multiple violations of labor law, including urging workers to sign an anti-union petition, telling workers they will lose benefits, and more.
02/25: The International Longshoremen’s Association ratified their new six-year contract with USMX by 99%.
02/27: Federation of Nurses/UFT members ratified a new contract that raises nurses' salaries at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn and requires the hospital to address chronic understaffing, therefore averting a potential strike.
02/27: Actors’ Equity Association ratified a five-year Development Agreement with the Broadway League after an eight-month strike.
02/28: Unionized editorial staff represented by NewsGuild NY at NBC News, NBC News NOW, and TODAY have reached a tentative three-year first contract agreement for 300 workers.
02/28: Starbucks workers at the Broadway & Reade store went on strike.
03/03: Unionized workers from OnPoint NYC walked out on 02/28 after an organizer was fired. They were locked out on 03/03, supporters picketed, then were allowed to return to work, and remain without a contract.
03/03: Journalists represented by NewsGuild NY at six of Gannett’s papers have reached tentative two-year contract agreements, ending three years of contentious bargaining and averting walkouts.
03/05: Tabletop Workers United at The Uncommons negotiated a return to work agreement within half an hour after announcing a walk-out.
03/05: NYSNA nurses at Northwell Health’s South Shore University Hospital delivered a strike notice to management, indicating that 900 nurses will go on an unfair labor practice strike on 03/17 unless a fair contract is reached.
03/06: Brooklyn Museum workers of DC37 & UAW are rallying to fight layoffs for dozens of union workers in violation of their contracts at noon. RSVP here.
03/08: Unionizing Starbucks workers at a Ridgewood store are hosting a sip-in.
Photo by Alexandra Chan at Alexa Avilés’ petitioning launch.
Albany
Corrections officers in New York state approach the three-week mark on their wildcat strike. The strike — officially unsanctioned by the New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) — has already yielded a victory for the guards, as Gov. Hochul agrees to “temporarily” suspend the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary (HALT) Act, a law that limits the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. Hochul has already sent in 7,000 National Guard troops to run operations at prison facilities during the work stoppage; the state also seeks court authority under the Taylor Law to arrest striking workers (fewer than 10 prison guards have been disciplined so far). Nearly all prison facilities in the state have gone on lockdown, with health and safety conditions inside rapidly deteriorating. Meanwhile, prison guards at Mid-State Correctional Facility kill another inmate, this time an as-of-yet unnamed 22-year-old. [The City; New York Focus; The New York Times]
City Hall
New York City saw 30 construction worker deaths in 2023, the highest in the 10 years that the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) has been keeping track of the data. Fatality numbers also surged across the state, with the vast majority of fatalities being non-union workers. At the same time, the city Department of Buildings faces a 13.3% vacancy rate.
Miscellaneous
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s attempts to fire federal probationary employees en masse. Meanwhile, the administration expands its mass firing program by directing government agencies to begin preparing to fire large numbers of non-probationary workers with civil service protections. [Associated Press]
As the administration’s new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China kick in, the UAW issues a statement of support for the administration.
The Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approves the nomination of Trump nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor Secretary; the nomination now goes to the full Senate for a vote. [CBS News]
Pharmacist residents bring a class action lawsuit against a group of large, prominent teaching hospitals across the country – including New York Presbyterian – for conspiring to suppress wages, benefits, and working conditions in violation of antitrust law. [Reuters]
Job Listings
Field Organizer - American Federation of Musicians (Salary: $60,000 - $70,000)
Database Developer - SEIU 32BJ (Salary: $90,000)
Organizer - Teamsters for a Democratic Union (Salary: $78,500)
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.