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Will the labor movement show up at the polls in this election?
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Oct 22, 2022
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By
Brigid Bergin
Published Oct 22, 2022
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New York City is a union town — with a higher share of newly unionized workers in the five boroughs than in any other city in the nation.
That’s among the findings in a recent report from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. The State of the Unions in 2022 illustrates some promising signs for worker organizing, with big wins like the formation of the first Amazon workers union on Staten Island in the spring.
Here at Gothamist, we’ve been keeping eyes on the organizing happening at Starbucks, REI, Trader Joe’s, and more. There’s also an abundance of public sector unions who are known to play a pivotal role in endorsing and getting out the vote for candidates.
But the news is not all good. Earlier this week, another organizing push at an Amazon fulfillment center in Albany failed. Some of the largest unions have averted near cataclysmic strike decisions based on deals that give a raw deal to some rank-and-file members.
As talk of recession continues to loom, and companies dig in against organizing efforts, how much power unions have and will that organizing might be felt in the midterm elections?
This week on “The People’s Guide to Power”, our live, midterm election call-in show, we examine the power of unions in the workplace — and the ballot box.
Guests include Sochie Nnaemeka, state director of the New York Working Families Party, who will talk about how the third party is rooted in the labor movement. She will also talk about what their message is for workers in the upcoming election and what they need from voters to maintain their ballot line after this general election.
Then we will check in on the state of the labor movement nationally with Jane McAlevey, a correspondent for The Nation covering worker strikes. She’s also the author of A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. She’ll also be joined by Gothamist and WNYC’s Gwynne Hogan, who’s been covering recent union organizing right here in the city.
The phones will be open starting at noon on Sunday, Oct. 23 for your calls about what union power means to you. Are you a member of a union? Which one? What has that meant for you and your family? Did you seek out your current job because it was a unionized position? If your union endorses candidates, how does that influence your vote? We want to hear from you at 212-433-WNYC, that’s 212-433-9692 or tweet @ WNYC.
Tagged
new york
Election 2022
wnyc
Politics
labor unions
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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