Civil and Workplace Rights
Working for the freedom from employment discrimination and the right of working families to fair pay, job safety, secure retirements and affordable health care have been goals fundamental to the union movement, which has long partnered with the civil rights and women’s movements and, more recently, with the LGBTQ community.
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The New York City Labor Movement stands with working people across our city who are demanding justice for the senseless death of George Floyd, and for an end to the continuing systemic inequalities that are faced by our brothers and sisters of color every day in America.
Today, we mark the 109th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a catastrophic event in which 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, were killed as a direct result of abhorrent working conditions and woefully insufficient workplace safety standards.
(Updated 5/11/20) The COVID-19 pandemic remains an extraordinarily challenging situation, with New York City workers, as always, on the front lines of the crisis. The labor movement is rising in solidarity to meet those challenges.
The day you have all been waiting for!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew the labor and civil rights movements were deeply connected, and both critical to the goal of equality and economic justice for all.
As we prepare to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Labor Day as a federal holiday, it's important to reflect on who we are as working people, what we’ve achieved together, and the challenges that lie ahead.