In this edition of Newsline, we mark the end of summer and the onset of Fall. For some of us, the change is met with a little sadness—some hating to see the sun set so early and the baseball season drawing to an end—while for others, Fall is greeted with enthusiasm from the excitement of Halloween, to planning the Thanksgiving menu and stockpiling the Christmas gifts. It is also the time that we celebrate the labor movement, not only with a day off from work, but with parades and tributes to our union brothers and sisters and the labor leaders across the nation who have fought for equality and dignity in the workplace.

Local 237 would like to thank our members for their tireless efforts on behalf of so many New Yorkers, whose lives and livelihoods depend on municipal agencies operating seamlessly despite the challenges. As former President Barack Obama said: “When times are tough, we don’t give up. We get up.” That’s precisely what you did and continue to do. Whether during the height of the pandemic, a time of sudden, unimaginable grief that rocked the entire world and our own personal world, or the present, with historic challenges from Mother Nature, and a migrant crisis sputtering out of control, union members — and especially public sector workers — didn’t give up; they got up and went to work. These essential municipal workers keep the City and the State running, and are owed a gigantic: “Thank You”.

Unfortunately, union membership across the nation has declined from its peak year of 1954 at around 40% to only 10.7% currently. New York is among the states with the largest number of union workers —nearly 24% — and about 70% of the union workforce is in the public sector. This is consistent with the national percentage of public sector union membership being approximately five times that of the private sector — with African Americans making up the largest component of that group. But today, after a decades-old decline, union membership in both the public and private sectors is slowly increasing. The Covid-19 crisis played a role in this factor, when so many workers, scared and frustrated by a perceived lack of assistance from our government and medical institutions, turned to their unions for help. The remarkable win by Amazon workers in Staten Island to unionize is an example. No small feat — just three years ago, this newly formed “Amazon Labor Union” did not exist. A Staten Island Amazon warehouse worker, Christian Smalls, led a walkout in protest of deplorable, Covid-related workplace conditions. Amazon general counsel’s meeting notes said of Smalls: “He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent to which the press wants to focus on him versus us, we will be in a much stronger PR position.” WOW! They not only dismissed Smalls as insignificant, but arrogantly condescended that an unpolished young Black man could be used to unionize. Amazon fired him, but their strategy backfired, and the repercussions have been felt throughout the nation.







Even though Ralph Chaplin wrote the song “Solidarity Forever” in 1915 for the Industrial Workers of World War I, its refrain is as relevant and important today as it was more than 100 years ago: “When the union’s inspiration thru the worker’s blood shall run, there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun, yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, but the union makes us strong. Solidarity forever, solidarity forever, solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong.”

So as you pack away the beach ball and swim suit and start to think about your Halloween costume, let’s not forget that in the Fall we traditionally acknowledge the work of the worker… especially those in the public sector. And, when you see the words “Union Made”, that means “Union Strong”. We’re a movement not just a moment.