The Local: Sep. 19, 2024 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, the Law360 Union goes on strike and wins, AFSCME Local 3005 passes a resolution to divest pension funds from Israeli stocks and bonds, and Queens becomes another front in the nationwide battle between Amazon and delivery drivers organizing with the Teamsters. Also, if you are a member, the Labor Working Group will be having its general meeting on Sep. 30!
Photo Credit: Alex Chan
Organizing
A residual unit of recreation/activity aides at the Linden Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Brooklyn have voted 5-0 to join 1199SEIU.
Production and maintenance workers at Phoenix Energy Management are organizing with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local 580.
Security guards at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden are organizing with Security Officers Union Local One.
Postdoc fellows at Rockefeller University begin voting on whether to form a union with the UAW.
Hundreds of drivers at Amazon’s DBK4 facility in Maspeth, Queens are organizing with the Teamsters. Notably, the drivers are technically employed by delivery service providers, or DSPs – businesses contracted by Amazon to handle deliveries. Amazon has used these DSPs as a legal shield against bearing responsibility for its drivers under labor law (a widespread practice known as fissuring the workplace). The Teamsters have focused on overcoming this shield by getting authorization cards from majorities of drivers at each of the three DSPs operating out of the DBK4 facility and identifying both the individual DSPs and Amazon as joint employers; similar efforts have been made public in Los Angeles and Chicago.
Bargaining & Action
09/04: WGA East members at Vox Media’s The Dodo and Thrillist strike for one day as management refuses to recognize them as part of Vox Media Union.
09/04: AFM Local 802 rallied in midtown to kickoff negotiations for a Live-TV contract representing 6,000 musicians. [Deadline]
09/07: The Bird Union reached a tentative agreement with Audubon before their strike deadline.
09/10: The NYT Tech Guild with NewsGuild NY voted 524-28 to authorize a strike.
09/13: UAW Staff United held a practice picket at the UAW 9A Political Leadership Conference over the termination of a staffer.
09/16: 32BJ SEIU Staff Union CWA rallied outside 32BJ headquarters in protest of a wrongful termination.
09/14: Tabletop Workers United walked out of The Uncommons demanding a fair contract.
09/17: NYLAG Workers Union UAW 2325 held a lunchtime picket against anti-Palestine censorship in the workplace.
09/17: Columbia Postdoctoral Workers UAW 4100 filed an unfair labor practice charge against Columbia University for withholding bargaining unit information.
09:18: The Law360 Union with NewsGuild NY reached a tentative agreement after a week-long ULP strike.
09/18: AFA Frontier Airlines members voted 99.6% to authorize a strike, with 92.7% participation.
No progress has been made on bargaining (and no bargaining dates have been set) between 45,000 dockworkers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association and port operators. This may be the last post before the start of a historic strike on October 1 shutting down all ports from Maine to Texas. [Wall Street Journal]
Photo Credit: Alex Chan
Albany
The Retail Worker Safety Act is signed into law – the new law will require risk assessments for retail workplaces as well as specific safety measures such as panic buttons for large workplaces.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, chair of the labor committee, announces a run for NYC mayor. [NY Daily News]
City Hall
As staffing declines at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, restaurant health inspections also decline significantly . . . [The Chief Leader]
. . . Similarly, budget cuts at the Department of Sanitation mean that vacant lot cleanups are plummeting . . . [Gothamist]
. . . And NYC park bathrooms are not getting cleaned or restocked with essentials like soap and toilet paper. [Gothamist]
Queens street vendors protest the NYPD’s practice of destroying their food carts over permitting issues. [Documented]
A UFT survey shows that a clear majority of public school teachers support a cell phone ban in schools, but want such a ban to be implemented correctly. [Gothamist]
The NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association says the latest pay offer from the city is unfair.
Miscellaneous
The NLRB has found that Starbucks violated labor law when it closed down three locations in Ithaca in retaliation for union organizing; the decision orders that the stores be reopened and workers rehired with backpay.
The Pinkertons are on Columbia’s campus – this time with binders.
Members of AFSCME Local 3005 (DC37) successfully pass a resolution calling for divestment of NYCERS pension funds from Israeli stocks and bonds; the local president had just resigned days before the resolution was passed. [The Chief Leader]
Job Listings
Columbia University - Program Assistant, Visual Arts Program (Salary: $60,259 - $65,000)
Department of Consumer and Worker Protection - Data Scientist – Workers’ Rights (Salary: $84,981 - $97,728)
Department of Consumer and Worker Protection - Staff Counsel (two positions) (Salary: $71,163.00 – $81,838.00; $80,387.00 – $92,446.00, respectively)
Department of City Planning - Digital Content Manager (Salary: $61,354 – $85,000)
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.