New York Metropolis is a union city, and on Could 14, the New York Metropolis Council handed Decision 26, calling for the creation of a Labor Historical past Month within the metropolis’s public faculties.
The measure goals to coach college students concerning the labor motion’s position in securing staff’ rights, together with office protections and the 40-hour workweek. An analogous invoice was handed by the California Legislature in 2023.
The decision, sponsored by Council Member Alexa Avilés (D-Brooklyn), emphasizes the significance of advancing staff’ collective energy amid declining union density nationwide. Avilés underscored the necessity to elevate consciousness about present office protections and the way they have been received.
Council Member Alexa Aviles launched Decision 26, a invoice calling for the creation of a Labor Historical past Month in NYC’s Public Faculties. File photograph by Gabriele Holtermann
For Labor Historical past Month to change into a actuality, nonetheless, the New York Metropolis Division of Schooling would want to ascertain the designation. The decision requires dedicating the month of Could in honor of Worldwide Employees’ Day, or Could Day, on Could 1, which commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.
Avilés is encouraging residents to hitch her in advocating for the implementation of Decision 26 by filling out a assist kind shared on her social media so younger folks can study concerning the labor motion’s position in shaping society.
“It’s crucial to arm young people with knowledge so they can enter the workforce and advocate for their rights. We owe so much to the labor leaders of history who have stood up to demand protections we take for granted now — two-day weekends, child labor laws, and workplace safety protections, to name a few. Students deserve to be educated on the history of organized workers in our country,” Avilés stated in a press release. “I’m proud to pass this resolution on the tails of hosting a labor town hall in my district, where we got to discuss workplace problems our neighbors are facing and how we can organize together to overcome them.”
Council Member Alexa Avilés not too long ago hosted a labor city corridor in her district.
Co-sponsors of the laws included Brooklyn Council members Shahana Hanif and Kayla Santosuosso; Council Member Shirley Aldebol (D-Bronx), chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor; and Council Member and Deputy Chief Sandra Ung (D-Queens).
Hanif stated staff’ rights have been received by way of generations of organizing, sacrifice and collective motion, and thanked Avilés for main the trouble to introduce labor historical past training in New York Metropolis public faculties.
“At a time when unions and workers across the country continue to face attacks, it’s more important than ever that young people understand the history of the labor movement and the power workers have when they organize together,” Hanif stated.
Council Member Shahana Hanif stated staff’ rights have been received by way of generations of organizing and sacrifice.File photograph by Gabriele Holtermann
Santosuosso stated the historical past of organized labor is the historical past of New York Metropolis.
“To teach students about unions is to teach them about the forces that have shaped the city they live in, and even specifically the schools they are learning in. Education should, above all else, be aimed at preparing our students for their adult lives,” Santosuosso stated. “Understanding organized labor, collective bargaining, and union power will prepare young New Yorkers to enter the workforce and build a better city for all.”
The decision additionally obtained assist from labor advocates, together with Eric Blanc, a labor research professor at Rutgers College, and the Emergency Office Organizing Committee, or EWOC.
Blanc stated many office protections staff take with no consideration have been achieved by way of collective bargaining.
“In order to equip students to fight for their own rights and protections, it’s important that they learn our history. Far too often, the contributions of workers are buried or cast aside when we teach history,” Blanc stated. “As an educator, I know that we must fight to keep that legacy alive inside our classrooms as union density declines and our federal administration attacks the workplace protections we are owed.”
Daphna Thier, organizing director at EWOC, highlighted New York Metropolis’s legacy of labor organizing and hard-won victories.
“It’s crucial that students are educated on our labor history, so they know how those that came before them fought and won important rights through labor unions — like even the right for children to go to school and not work,” Thier stated. “We at EWOC educate workers on how to organize, but it’s this history that teaches them why they ought to.”
