New York Is a Union Town: Public Sector Organizing in Our City

Everyone is welcome, but if you're a public sector worker, invite your coworkers with this toolkit!

Organizing public sector unions is crucial for socialists and those who want to see our city flourish. It directly impacts the provision of social goods and services, determines public budget allocation for these resources in opposition to austerity, and serves as a model for democratic worker control of the state.

Over the past year, major public sector unions in NYC, including UFT (teachers), NYSNA (healthcare), DC 37 (city workers), and TWU (transit), either settled contracts, or in the case of PSC-CUNY (CUNY faculty & staff), are currently escalating an ongoing contract campaign. Join us to gain cross-industry insights from leaders involved in each of these struggles. We will delve into NYC's public sector unions, drawing lessons from experiences in previous contract campaigns, discussing ongoing or upcoming campaigns, analyzing the impact of the Taylor Law's prohibition on public sector right to strike, and assessing the connections between public sector union struggles and the well-being of our city.

Speakers (on their own behalf, not on behalf of their union; union listed for ID purposes only):

• Joshua Freeman: Labor Historian at CUNY; author of "Working-Class New York"
• Emily Gallagher: State Assemblymember (AD50), sponsor of Taylor Law reform bill A09376
• Mercedes Cruz: President, Bellevue chapter of New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) Health and Hospitals (H+H)
• Sarah Slichter: Chapter leader of United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and Steering Committee member of the Movement of Rank & File Educators (MORE) caucus
• JP Patafio: Vice President, Transport Workers United (TWU), Local 100
• Evan Rothman: Vice Chair, Professional Staff Congress (PSC), Graduate Center Chapter
• Honda Wang: Rank-and-file member of American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 37 (AFSCME DC 37), Local 1549