Being in a Union Means You Could Make More Over Your Lifetime

In the News 32BJ Members on Strike at 108 Leonard in Manhattan

On Tuesday, October 18, members of 32BJ SEIU went on strike at the super luxury residential building 108 Leonard Street, a 166unit condo in the Tribeca section of Manhattan also known as the Clock Tower building. The strike was called by fifteen building workers who act as porters, concierges and maintenance workers to protest a number of unfair labor practices alleged against the condominium developed by Elad Group. The building owners voluntarily recognized the workers’ union in the spring of 2021, when they sought representation from 32BJ, but negotiations have since come to a grinding halt. Workers at the building earn $21.50 an hour, and are pushing to be brought in line with roughly 30,000 workers across New York City represented by 32BJ, where the salary minimum is $28 an hour. Workers are also seeking better health care coverage among other benefits. p unions, even though those workers were more likely to retire earlier. Workers who are never in a union were projected to earn around $2.1 million their whole careers, while those who were in unions for their whole careers were estimated to make $3.4 million. Workers without college degrees particularly benefit from career-long union membership. In fact, a worker without a college degree who has been in a union for 100% of his career is actually expected to make more than a non-union worker with a college degree.p

Photo courtesy NYC Central Labor Council

Donations Needed for New Migrant Families

The Astoria Worker Project is a new initiative from CWE to create a worker center to offer a range of social services to the residents of Astoria and Western Queens. AWP is partnering with Free Astoria and Astoria Food Pantry to run a winter clothing drive for immigrant families that recently arrived in NYC. The need is urgent, help us keep our new neighbors warm! p NYC CLC Executive Board Resolutions

New Study: Being in a Union Means You Could Make $1.3 Million More Over Your Lifetime

At our October 2022 Executive Board Meeting, the NYC CLC passed four resolutions addressing upcoming ballot proposals, immigration policy, and FIFA/2026 World Cup human rights and labor standards. •Resolution in support of the Racial Justice Commission as well as proposed amendments to the New York City Charter through 3 ballot proposals. The NYC CLC stands in support of the Racial Justice Commission, formed to focus on racial justice and reconciliation with a mandate to identify and root out structural racism. The three proposed amendments promise to bring power, access, and opportunities to BIPOC New Yorkers and to create lasting capacity and accountability.

•Resolution to support the passage of The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 as well as to take steps to ensure our affiliates have the information and access to shared resources to vote yes on the proposed Act. The Environmental Bond Act will provide funding for local infrastructure and environmental restoration while establishing strong standards for prevailing wage rates on construction projects and allowing municipalities to require contractors to adopt labor peace agreements and buy American structural iron and steel.

•Resolution in Support of Coalition Building towards ProWorker Immigration Policies. The NYC CLC believes the pathway to fixing an unjust, exploitative system will require continued partnership from organized and unorganized labor and will take steps to ensure that affiliates and allies have tools and information to access new protections for immigrant workers, including materials, training, and case support.

•Resolution to demand that FIFA and United 2026 uphold their statutory human rights commitment, which includes a commitment to labor rights. The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico is the first opportunity to see FIFA’s new human right standards fulfilled. While past World Cups have been associated with low wages, dangerous jobs, preventable worker deaths, community displacement, and corruption; the NYC CLC will work with affiliate and community allies to ensure that FIFA and the NY/NJ Host Committee agree to specific requirements to ensure that our communities benefit from hosting the games and to establish a legacy of strong labor standards for future mega-sporting events.p If you want to make a million more dollars over your lifetime, there's one solution: Join a union. That's according to a new paper in Cornell University's ILR Review. Researchers Zachary Parolin of Bocconi University and Tom VanHeuvelen of University of Minnesota Twin Cities examined the advantages of being part of a union throughout your entire career. “We find that a person who spent the entirety of their career in a labor union were predicted to earn about a million dollars more over the course of their career compared to somebody who was never in a labor union," VanHeuvelen told Business Insider. To quantify the impact of unionization on lifetime earnings, they used the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which tracks some Americans every several years. The researchers zoomed in on men who would've been in their late 20s in the 1960s and 1970s, and tracked their earnings through retirement as well as whether or not they were union members. The result was the $1.3 million premium for workers who spent their whole careers in

Local 3 Apprentice Team Makes Strides in Breast Cancer Walk in Queens

Photo courtesy NYC Central Labor Council

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Local 3 IBEW’s Apprentice Committee took part in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MABC) campaign by organizing a team for the breast cancer walk on the morning of Sunday, October 16, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens. Local 3 apprentices Anthony Murillo and Scott Avnyin co-chaired the Local 3 Apprentice Committee team. Local 3 members and families proudly walked side by side with community members and raised over $4,000! Funds go toward critical research and services for people trying to cope with their breast cancer experience. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer takes place throughout the month of October in more than 150 communities nationwide this year.p

Local Unions Sue/ continued from page 1 NYSNA’s nearly 42,000 members will increase NNU’s membership close to 225,000 nurses, and will also bring NYSNA into the AFL-CIO, of which NNU is already a member union. NYSNA, the oldest nurses association in the country and one of the most influential nurses unions, will gain greater resources and capacity, particularly in the federal arena, by joining NNU. The two organizations are well aligned in their approaches to powerful representation on behalf of nurses and the profession, supporting efforts such as creating strong workplace standards to protect nurses from infectious diseases like Covid-19, establishing federal safe staffing laws, holding employers responsible for preventing workplace violence, and fighting for health care justice in our wider society. NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, CCRN, BSN, said, “Covid-19 has shown that nurses nationwide face the same issues and challenges at work. There is strength in numbers and a NYSNA affiliation with NNU will strengthen our fight to protect nurses, our patients, and our communities. We are thrilled that this affiliation connects us more closely to the national and international labor movement, which is essential to improving the lives of working people.” “This is a great day for nurses in New York and across the country,” said Jean Ross, RN, and a president of National Nurses United. “NYSNA is already a powerhouse in its own right and has done such an amazing job representing nurses in New York state. We are honored they have voted to join forces with us in building our national movement of nurses to fight for our profession, our patients, and the health of our communities.” NYSNA First Vice President Dr. Judith Cutchin, RN, DNP, of NYC Health+Hospitals/ Woodhull said, “Nurses throughout the country are rising up and demanding change. NNU is a trailblazing union that has a track record of winning respect for nurses and winning safe staffing ratios in California. Together, we will work to change policies and address important issues that affect nurses and our patients at the city, state, and national levels." “Nurses are stronger when we work collectively,” said Bonnie Castillo, RN and executive director of National Nurses United. “Our solidarity is what makes it possible to challenge injustice and inequity in our workplaces and in the health of our society. We could not be more proud to now be fighting this fight alongside New York nurses.” Second Vice President Marion Enright, RN, Nathan Littauer Hospital, said, “Working in a hospital in a rural area of New York State that once had low union density, I know first hand how building union power helps nurses win better conditions and advocate more effectively for their patients. Together, NYSNA and NNU have the power to fix our broken health care system, protect our patients, and put an end to the staffing crisis.” NYSNA Secretary Nella Pineda-Marcon, BSN, RN-BC, of Mount Sinai Morningside said, “NYSNA and NNU share the goal of transforming our health care system so that it puts patients over profits and delivers quality care to all. We are also committed to address and heal the broader social, economic, racial, and climate injustices that fuel illness in our patients and society.” NNU’s other affiliate nursing organizations include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, District of Columbia Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, and Minnesota Nurses Association, which recently engaged in the largest nurses strike in U.S. history.p

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