NYIC Leadership Welcomes Trump Administration into the Workplace to Union Bust; OPEIU 153 Rallies, Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge
The workers of NYIC United - photo courtesy of OPEIU 153.
New York, NY (July 14, 2026) – Nearly one month after workers at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) went public with their union on June 9th with 82% support of the 50-person, wall-to-wall unit and the vocal support of 20+ NYS legislators, NYIC leadership has failed to provide a path to voluntary recognition and launched a union-busting campaign against its staff.
After initially agreeing to negotiate a voluntary recognition agreement, Murad, President and CEO of NYIC, walked this back and retained Kauff McGuire & Margolis (KMM), a union-busting law firm. With KMM at the wheel, Murad has deployed tactics similar to notorious antiunion corporations such as Starbucks and Amazon - challenging the eligibility of 36% of the bargaining unit, including the entire communications and development departments, and filing an untimely RM petition after the 14-day deadline in an attempt to strongarm the NYIC United workers into a lengthy NLRB hearing and election process.
Union leaders and supportive NYS legislators have urged Murad and NYIC leadership to comply with New York City’s Local Law 2021/087, which requires human services contractors to negotiate a Labor Peace Agreement with the union and provide a path to recognition outside of the NLRB as a condition of receiving city funding.
On Tuesday, July 7th, the parties met to negotiate an agreement on the scope of the unit. After many attempts by management to cut workers out of this meeting, union members, undeterred, turned out to the meeting en masse with statements prepared supporting their individual cases for their eligibility under the NLRA. Management refused to listen to these member testimonies, ultimately storming out of the meeting.
Murad’s decision to cease voluntary recognition negotiations and force the union to be recognized through an NLRB hearing and election not only will delay these workers’ ability to negotiate a union contract by months or potentially years, but also poses a significant risk to its own workers, the organization, and broader immigrant rights movement. Initially, the NLRB hearing was scheduled at 26 Federal Plaza, which poses a serious risk to the largely immigrant NYIC workforce due to the intensified ICE presence at that same building. Further, the Trump administration in its anti-immigration crackdown has already identified NYIC on its target list to probe. Proceeding to a hearing and surrendering detailed information such as job descriptions to the Trump administration as required by such a hearing poses a significant and potentially existential threat to the NYIC as an organization, and invites more federal scrutiny into the immigrant rights movement as a whole.
“As NYIC employees, we have been proud to stand alongside our labor comrades, including as co-anchors of the annual May Day March, because we recognize that the historic arcs of our movements are one in the same,” says Victor Flores, Political Engagement Associate at the NYIC. “What NYIC Management is doing, by having their union-busting lawyers belittle my colleagues and refusing to listen to our real and urgent concerns, flies in the face of the organization’s purported commitment to building immigrant labor power. While we, as impacted members of the immigrant community, fight day-in and day-out to protect our community members, NYIC Management was willing to put us at risk by sending us to 26 Federal Plaza for an unnecessary hearing. We deserve the same respect and dignity we demand for our communities at our rallies outside of that same federal office building.”
On July 13th, OPEIU 153 filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against NYIC for their refusal to bargain despite a showing of supermajority of support and filing an untimely RM petition. NYIC United is demanding that Murad and NYIC voluntarily recognize the unit with all 50 workers, drop the RM petition, and kick the third-party union-busting law firm KMM out of these negotiations.
“By forcing an NLRB Hearing rather than fulfilling their promise to voluntarily recognize our Union and negotiate in good faith, NYIC management is directly contradicting the NYIC’s stated values, diverting the organization's already limited resources and funding, and is putting the organization at additional risk for investigation by the Trump administration,” says Kaija Groom, Manager of Community Programming IOLA at the NYIC. “The Trump administration has already identified NYIC on its target list of organizations to probe due to the nature of our work, and by forcing an NLRB hearing, management is handing the Trump administration open access to the inner workings of our organization. Rather than using our funding to fight against the Trump administration's policies that have directly resulted in the forced detention, deportation, and murder of immigrant community members, NYIC management is choosing to bankroll a union busting law firm and invite the same administration we are fighting against into the inner workings of our organization.”
The union, joined by Assemblymember and Democratic Congressional nominee Claire Valdez, will be holding a rally outside the NYIC offices in New York City on Thursday, July 16th at 5:30pm to urge management to meet these demands. The union invites community and labor allies to show their support by signing their petition and joining the rally on Thursday.
ABOUT OPEIU LOCAL 153
OPEIU is a union of more than 103,000 employees in technology, credit unions, hospitals, insurance agencies, colleges and universities, hotels, administrative offices, and more. As the founder of the Nonprofit Employees United initiative, OPEIU supports thousands of nonprofit workers across the country in forming unions and negotiating strong contracts. OPEIU is committed to advancing economic justice for all working people.