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Two new unions of workers at the Fortune Society and New York Immigration Coalition were certified this month by the NLRB after a third-party check of workers’ union authorization cards. Over 400 workers at the Fortune Society, a prison re-entry organization, and 38 at NYIC, an immigration non-profit, are now officially recognized as members of Office and Professional Employees Local 153 and can soon begin bargaining for first contract.
Malik Hardy, a group facilitator and discharge planner at the Fortune Society said the completion of the card check Aug. 11 was “awesome news.”
“This is an opportunity for us to be able to move the beautiful place where we work into a more stable place for us workers where we can bring our concerns to the table without fear of retaliation,” he said.
Workers at the Fortune Society went public about their unionization in early May, just before the May Day march in lower Manhattan, along with 200 workers at the Osborne Association, another prison re-entry organization. Union officials said workers there are still working through the card-check process.
Workers at both organizations told The Chief in May that they were hoping for raises and a clearer promotional pathway in their first union contract.
In statement, Rob DeLeon, president & CEO of The Fortune Society, said that the organization’s employees are “essential to who The Fortune Society is” and that he respects their decision to unionize.
“As we move forward, we will engage constructively with our employees and their representative through the collective bargaining process and continue working together grounded in the mission and values that bring us to this work every day,” he said.
Staff at NYIC went public about their union push in June and were faced with an effort by management to carve out more than a dozen members from the bargaining unit. The two sides eventually reached a deal where management agreed to voluntarily recognize a union of 38 workers pending a successful card check, with the status of ten remaining workers with management titles or responsibilities to be resolved in future bargaining sessions.
The arbitrator completed its review of NYIC workers’ authorization cards Aug. 4 and the union announced its victory days later.
“I look forward to a workplace environment that respects the workers' time, energy, efforts, and compensates them accordingly,” said Amani Ahmat, a finance and administrative associate at NYIC. “We still have a long road ahead of us but it’s important to stop and smell the roses of our success!”
NYIC's president and CEO, Murad Awawdeh sent a message to staff on Aug. 13 informing them about the confirmation of the union.
"The next step is bargaining," he said.
Nick Galipeau, the president of Local 153, told The Chief he was proud to have all the new workers officially as part of the union.
"We believe that Local 153 is the union for New York City non-profits, especially within the criminal justice and reentry field,” he said.
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