In this issue:
- Organizing Wins: Sesame Street Workshop & the IRC
- Secretary-Treasurer's Report: Building union power & fighting for equality
- Boots on the Ground: Hands Off & May Day Marches
- Know Your Rights
- Political Action & Endorsements
- Protections Against AI & Other Contract Wins
- Financial Report
|
After facing a brutal union-busting campaign, employees at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, triumphed, voting 55-19 in an election run by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify their labor union, the Sesame Workers Union.
|
“With a history of unions at Sesame Workshop like WGA and SAG-AFTRA, SWU was founded on the basis of inclusion of the most Sesame workers as possible. The union is the people in your neighborhood, friends, colleagues, coworkers,” said Kristen Sandmeier of the Sesame Workers Union.
“Our union shows how we can come together in community and collectively negotiate working conditions that are truly responsive to the needs of all of our workers. We are so excited to certify the union and to begin working in harmony with Sesame leadership to ensure a timely first contract.”
|
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
|
On Thursday, December 19, workers at global nonprofit the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Resettlement Office in New York City won their union via voluntary recognition. The NYC Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration office was the eighth such IRC office to win their union with OPEIU.
|
"Forming a union at IRC is an essential step to ensure workers are truly represented, heard, and empowered,” says Mohamed Abbas, an IRC Healthcare and Benefits Navigator.
“Unionizing such a diverse group of individuals is not only a bold move toward shaping a better future but also an urgent necessity in these uncertain times. Together, we can face the challenges of our workplace collectively, fostering strength and solidarity, rather than navigating them in isolation."
|
Map showing all 12 IRC Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration (RAI) offices that have unionized with OPEIU (as of June 2025)
|
Secretary-Treasurer's Report
|
|
Building Union Power and Fighting for Equality
|
Nick Galipeau, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 153
|
As of January 2025 we have seen the decimation of the National Labor Relations Board, the elimination of federal mediators, and the destruction of much of the federal government workers’ union. It seems as if more of Project 2025 is being implemented weekly. The Labor Movement is once again under attack after relatively favorable conditions under the Biden Administration.
However, workers are pushing back in new and unique ways and deserve much of the credit for ousting Elon Musk from Washington, DC and telling the cynical tech elites and greedy oligarchy to get their HANDS OFF our governmental infrastructure.
|
From private sector and nonprofit employees fighting unfair layoffs to healthcare workers demanding safer working conditions, the pushback has been loud and clear. Workers are picketing their employers and using these same tactics to picket Tesla dealerships and FIFA operations. Connections are intersections are being woven among Workers’ Rights issues and human rights.
Workers are also organizing at rates that we have never seen at Local 153. In the last 30 months Local 153 has ratified twelve first contracts increasing our membership and helping to assuage the loss of members from the COVID-19 pandemic. Local 153 is also intaking several new organizing campaigns per week. The pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the labor market, leading many to question practices that prioritize profits over people, and the increase of the millionaire and billionaire class. As a result workers are fighting back by joining a union.
|
153 members are living their values every day - showing up to marches, pickets, and rallies to hold bosses and politicians accountable to the working-class people whose labor keeps our communities alive and flourishing. Will we see you at the next action? 👀
|
OPEIU Local 153 joined in a massive Hands Off! march through the heart of Manhattan on April 6th, standing united against attacks on workers’ rights and devastating cuts to the essential services Americans rely on. A broad coalition of more than 100,000 people including unions from across New York City came together at Bryant Park and filled 5th Avenue for a march that stretched nearly twenty blocks to Madison Square Park. The energy was electric, and the message was clear: we won’t back down in the fight to protect our rights, our democracy, and our future.
The march was part of a nationwide mobilization in which millions participated in more than 1,300 actions from coast to coast.
|
On May Day, 153 members in New York City joined thousands of New Yorkers in the streets demanding an end to the billionaire takeover and corruption of the Trump administration and the attack on working-class people.
|
"I am marching on May 1st because job security is important. Destroying jobs destroys communities."
- Jessica Timo, OPEIU Local 153 President
|
Check out more testimonials from our members about why they are taking to the streets to fight the attacks of the current administration here and here.
|
ASL Interpreters Union Press Conference
|
On February 26th, Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) along with our very own Felix Reyes, interpreter and OPEIU Local 153 member spoke in front of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington DC to address the significant decline of service quality in Video Relay Service (VRS). VRS is an essential service ensuring the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf-Blind communities have functionally equivalent phone service under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In response, Commissioner Anna Gomez agreed to attend a first-of-its-kind public forum for VRS interpreters and Deaf users to share their stories directly with FCC officials.
|
You can learn more about the ASL Interpreters Union campaign by visiting their website.
You can support by signing the community petition below 👇
|
Democracy Project
A note from Rich Lanigan, former OPEIU International President
|
Imagine you arrive at work. Your employer approaches and tells you that you are laid off. You think “I have many years of seniority so I should be protected by the union contract”. Your employer tells you that there is no union contract. This is the recent experience of hundreds of thousands of federal employees were told they do not have a union contract and that they were laid off.
|
Maybe you or a family member sees something on their job that they think may be life threatening to their fellow workers. So, a call is made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration only to find that it closed over thirty of its offices and is laying off enforcement agents from an already understaffed agency.
Maybe you work for an employer that is taking unreasonable positions in bargaining with your union. So the union contacts the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to ask for the assistance of a mediator with bargaining. The union then learns that 85% of the mediators in the whole country were notified that their termination from employment would take place very soon.
Maybe the employer did something unfair, so you spoke out on behalf of the affected employee. In retaliation, the employer laid you off or changed your hours, so you were now working midnights. A fellow employee tells you to contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) so you can file an Unfair Labor Practice against the employer for retaliation. You do your research and find out that the chair of the National Labor Relations Board was recently fired, the General Counsel was also fired and one of the Board members was dismissed. You realize that the agency that was established to protect union rights is now being staffed with leaders who are outspokenly anti-union.
Maybe you or a family member work in a mine which is an inherently dangerous place to work. You learn that the employer is demanding that people work without adequate protective gear. When you call the federal agency with jurisdiction over mine safety, you learn of plans to reduce the size of the agency, which was already understaffed.
These developments are taking place across nearly all federal agencies that oversee and enforce decades old workplace rules in the US. In addition, policies adopted in the last five years making these agencies more effective advocating for working people are also being re-evaluated. None of these changes seem to be in the best interests of the members of Local 153 or their families.
So, what am I personally doing about this? I am keeping informed, have called my US Representative in Congress and have started to go to rallies when I can. There I have seen and interacted with people concerned about changes to consumer protection, Medicare and Social Security. They also call their elected representatives. Some attempt to go to town hall meetings. These are not protesters, they are regular people who have worked, raised families and paid taxes for decades. Many have concluded that they did not vote to eliminate benefits and protection of government to provide a tax break to a very small group of wealthy people.
People who come to these rallies are beyond the point of just talking about how they are worried about life for their children or grandchildren. Rather than talking they are now engaging. Some are expressing their concerns in a very creative way, on homemade signs that they hold or carry. Please learn more about these rallies and perhaps I will see you at a future rally.
Don’t forget to bring your sign.
|
Solidarity is an Action: Local 153 Members on the Move
|
Kickstarter members gearing up for bargaining!
|
Tony Walters (staff business rep), Nick Galipeau (secretary-treasurer), and Zak Thompson (rank-and-file member at Kickstarter) flyer Starbucks stores as a part of the Starbucks Workers United Red for Bread action during their contract campaign in December 2024
|
OPEIU 153 members join IATSE members on the picket line during the Atlantic Theater strike in Manhattan
|
OPEIU Local 153 staff, stewards, electeds, and rank-and-file members at the OPEIU Education Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. April 2025
|
Elana Sklar (staff organizer) and Danette Torres (153 executive board member) at the NYC Central Labor Council's Future in Focus event in East Harlem in May 2025
|
Jodi Camino, an IRCWU-OPEIU member from the Atlanta, GA IRC RAI office, and Madeleine Haas, a Guttmacher Employees Union (GEU) OPEIU 153 steward show their solidarity with Sesame Street workers!
|
153 Political Action Training at the 153 office in NYC, May 17-18th
|
Know Your Rights & Take Action
|
Know Your Rights with ICE
|
All people in the U.S., regardless of immigration status, have rights.
153 has resources, upcoming trainings, information, and materials available on our website for members to share in their workplaces and their communities.
|
Protect Freedom of Speech on College Campuses - Sign the Petition to Stand with Student Workers!
|
Students and student workers protesting at Emerson College
|
As a local with many student workers who have decided to collectively organize with OPEIU, we recognize the responsibility of continuing the struggle for civil rights which the Labor movement has long championed.
OPEIU Local 153's ranks have grown significantly in the past years, encompassing not just student workers but also other members of communities at 11 colleges/universities. The local believes that any adverse or disciplinary action taken against student workers, students - or any members of college/university communities - for exercising their civil rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and protest is wholly incongruent with the values of the labor movement and is antagonistic to social justice and the critical thinking, open exchange of ideas, debate and dialogue that the world of academia alleges to value. We condemn the police brutality that has taken place on our campuses and the endorsement of this violence by the administrations that solicited it. We remain committed to our values of unifying and building our communities and remain driven in our pursuit of justice for members of our union and all that share our campus communities.
We employ our collective voice as union members and believe that all people should be free to engage in peaceful expression of shared values without the employers and administrators imposing oppressive restrictions or soliciting police violence in an effort to silence voices.
We the undersigned OPEIU workers and allies demand that no college or university takes punitive action against OPEIU members or any peaceful demonstrators. Furthermore, we demand these institutions agree to codify - in collective bargaining agreements - robust civil rights protections for all community members that choose to engage in peaceful protest.
|
Political Action & Endorsements
|
Local 153 is proud to endorse Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Manhattan Borough President!
|
Local 153 is proud to endorse Mark Levine for NYC Comptroller!
|
Political Action & Endorsements
|
Local 153 has been focused on supporting political initiatives that directly raise awareness regarding equity for working families in New York State.
This Spring, the local wrote a letter to Governor Hochul that expresses our support for wealthy individuals to pay their fair share in taxes.
|
American democracy is under attack. Now is the time to get involved in your union so we can build working-class power to fight for a better world.
If you're interested in joining the OPEIU 153 Political Action Committee, send Sam an email at sheyne@opeiu-tristate.org.
|
Do YOU have AI protections in your contract?
|
Before we get into the contract wins shop-by-shop, we wanted to share the excellent AI language developed by 153 members and staff.
While AI poses a major threat to our jobs and ecosystems - we CAN fight back. Make sure you are proactively negotiating protections against AI into your contract.
People over robots, always!
|
Congratulations to Bryce Merry and the RA’s at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. On top of winning a first ever stipend and improvements in meal allowances, the membership has already benefited from a strong Grievance Procedure. The University reserved several terminations in favor of the union in a sweeping win for our members at Bucknell. The Bucknell negotiations exemplified how a united and active membership can pressure an employer to come to the table ready to bargain. Early in the bargaining process Bucknell RA’s delivered a letter to the University’s leadership, demanding that the employer meet to bargain in good faith. The action set the tone for one the swiftest first contract victories in the union’s recent history. We are looking forward to working with Bucknell University members and welcome them to Local 153.
|
Members at RepresentUs won huge wage increases via expansion of salary bands: Tier 1 went from $60K to $83K; Tier 2 from $72K to $99K; Tier 3 from $87K to 120K; Tier 4 from $96K to $148K; and Tier 5 from $115K to $177K. On top of this, they won a yearly bonus of up to 7% of base salary.
Their contract also included Artificial Intelligence (AI) language to ensure notification to the Union prior to implementation, as well as protection of Bargaining Unit position, and equitable training for employees. AND they won expansion of bereavement leave provision to include aunt, uncle, miscarriage, (IVF) fertility loss … five days off with pay.
|
RAs at Drexel triumphed in a hard-won first contract victory. Initially after winning their union in April 2024 - Drexel refused to bargain. The RAs along with 153 started a petition to demand bargaining and filed a board charge against the University at the NLRB for failing to commence negotiations.
Drexel eventually caved and bargaining started at the end of June 2024. All together there were 20 + bargaining sessions and on April 17, 2025, a contract was reached. The contract was ratified by an overwhelming majority of RAs.
The 3-year contract highlights include:
- Guaranteed room, meals, staffing ratios and stipend
- Stipend is $3,250 for year 1, $3,500 for year 2 and $3,750 for year 3
- Increase in meals and dining dollars
- New provision for free summer housing
|
More than sixty Resident Assistants unanimously ratified their first contract recently at Swarthmore College outside of Philadelphia. Contract highlights include stipends and meal allowance improvements. Mikaela Camacho and Aashish Panta led a spirted negotiations with the College highlighted by student worker protest over the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Presidential election, and a solar eclipse.
Our members at Swarthmore held a chicken-wing social event before the final bargaining session to galvanize support from the membership, which paid off in participation. Over thirty RA’s attended the meeting in which the parties reached a tentative agreement. Swarthmore is a testament to the power of social organizing to spur union activity. Congratulations to our Local 153 members at Swarthmore College.
|
Following around 7 months of negotiations with a very engaged worker-led bargaining team, Georgetown RAs competed and ratified their first contract! It ended up being one of the strongest RA contracts in the local and in the country.
Georgetown RAs won: (1) a $3500 stipend, (2) mandatory rehiring for those in good standing, (3) a fairer process of discipline and representation (4) fairer placement processes and much more! We are excited to welcome Georgetown RAs into our local and look forward to their engagement and contributions to the labor movement!
|
Yankee Stadium: Steal Bases, Not Wages!
|
Hundreds of hourly members received approximately $250,000 in retroactive monies for wages increases and longevity bonuses the Company failed to pay out.
An agreement was reached on January 30, 2024, for a 4-year contract. The contract was 1 year expired. The organization agreed to retroactive monies in many forms in the contract, but when it came time to pay up, the company refused.
153 filed a class action grievance and was pursuing arbitration. Arbitration generally takes 6 to 12 months. So, 153 and its Shop Stewards activated the membership by taking it to the streets. Hundreds of members were handing out and signing petitions against the Company demanding their retroactive monies. The petition was directed to the President and VPs at Legends. Button stating "steal bases not wages" were handed out in English and Spanish to members, active supporters, and the public.
Within 3 weeks the Company folded and paid out the entitled members.
|
Click below to view the most recent 153 financial reports.
|
Connect with us on Social Media
|
|
