Council Member Tiffany Cabán and The Labor Movement Declare New York Is A Union Town!
June 11, 2025
New York City
Today, New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán passed Resolution No. 66-A through the New York City Council, declaring New York City to be a Union Town, expressing solidarity with unions and the labor movement, condemning the Trump administration’s attacks on Federal labor protections, and reiterating the City’s support for the fundamental rights of workers to organize. In celebration of this resolution’s passage, Council Member Tiffany Cabán released the following statement.
“In a speech he gave in 1966, Martin Luther King quoted then United Auto Workers leader Walter Reuther on the nature of 'power.' ‘Power,’ he said, ‘is the ability to make the largest corporation in the world, General Motors, say yes when they wanted to say no.’ If we ever hope to have the power to defeat the Trump administration and all the attacks on democracy, on immigrants, on freedom and equality, we need a labor movement that has the power to make the largest companies of our day, giant corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, say yes when they want to say no. And for that we need cities like New York to show that we have the backs of our unions, organizers, and workers. That’s what we’re doing here today - standing up and saying that New York is a union town,” said Council Member Tiffany Cabán.
“New York is unequivocally a union town and always has been,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés. “We have a long history of standing up to protect our legal rights to organize, bargain collectively, and hold fair elections. Our current federal administration does not change our unwavering commitment to fighting for the rights of working people. Now is the time—more than ever—that we must make that known. I urge my colleagues in the council to pass Res 66-A so that working-class New Yorkers know that we stand with them in their fight for better workplaces and a better world.”
“We are proud to co-sponsor Reso 66-A when it’s most needed — at a time when union leaders are being arrested by ICE, worker’s rights are under attack, and our federal workforce is in jeopardy,” said Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, Chair of the Committee on Civil Service & Labor. “Unionization drives and worker’s rights movements are growing fiercely in our city, rising within unprecedented spaces like Amazon and Starbucks. The working class is unified and strong. Labor has always been at the forefront of social change, and NYC stands firm in its support for its workers.”
This resolution sends a clear message: New York City will not stand by while our federal government tries to strip workers of their right to have a collective voice in the workplace,” said New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Vincent Alvarez. “At a time when public support for unions in this country is at a sixty-year high, yet union-busting is on the rise and labor protections are under attack, standing up for the right to organize is more urgent than ever. We commend Councilmember Tiffany Cabán and her colleagues in the City Council for their leadership in defending the rights of working people.”
“We are building worker power at Amazon so the company has to listen to our voices and provide the good jobs we deserve,” said Lamont Hopewell, Teamsters Local 804 member and Amazon driver at DBK4 in Queens. “When we organized our union and later went on strike, it was powerful to have so many of our elected officials standing behind us. It’s time for Amazon to respect our Constitutional rights and come to the table.”
“For more than three years, Amazon workers on Staten Island have been fighting tooth and nail to address the serious issues we face everyday—high injury rates, nonexistent rest breaks, disability and pregnancy discrimination, to name a few—and the support of City Council as we continue this fight is critical to winning the changes we deserve,” said Connor Spence of Amazon Labor Union-IBT 1.
"As the Trump administration unleashes unprecedented attacks on labor and empowers abusive corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, New York workers are fighting back — organizing in droves for fair pay, better conditions, and accountability from bad employers,” said Lucas Shapiro, ALIGN Deputy Director. “ALIGN stands with Council Member Cabán and the City Council to say New York is a union town, and we will not rest until every New Yorker has safe work and a voice on the job.”
“Today, the City Council Staff Union (ALE) was proud to stand with a broad coalition of elected officials, unions, and labor advocates to make it clear that New York City is a union town,” said ALE President Matt Malloy. "We thank Council Member Caban for supporting this critical resolution. The unionization of City Council staff, an achievement many thought impossible, shows just how strong our current labor movement is. ALE represents the first new municipal union in our city since the 1970s. Our contract lifted the wage floor from $30,000 to $56,500, protects staff from abuse, and compensates them for overtime. This is not a moment where workers are ready to back down. We’re prepared to stand united against Trump’s attacks.”
"Starbucks fails to realize that union busting will never succeed, as we, the workers, are the union,” said Amber Gonzalez (she/her), a barista of two years and member of Starbucks Workers United. “We have the power, and with the support of a union, we can act and fight for what is right while still maintaining our job security. There is no better time to organize and unionize than now."
Contact: Please contact Arden Dressner Levy at alevy@council.nyc.gov or 646-250-1957 with inquiries.
###