Still, though bottom-up campaigning would be more difficult for construction workers, Colón said it is nevertheless the sole way to go. “All good organizing campaigns start from the bottom-up,” said Colón. “The workers must own the fight. It doesn’t always work when people come from the outside and try to organize workers. Who are they? Do they understand the conditions that the employees are working under? Are they part of that? Are they on the job themselves? It has to come from within.” He added, “They must have ownership over their fight for a campaign to be successful.”

 

Key Issues: Legislation, Immigration

Local politicians who champion the Labor movement, such as Council member Sandra Ung, are working to bring more of the city’s non-union workers into the union fold. “Casting a wider net to attract a more diverse group of workers and educate them about the benefits of union membership is key to their success,” Ung told Union-Built Matters, adding that it is among her responsibilities to inform her constituents of the “avenues available to them to join unions—such as certifications and apprenticeships—as opportunities rather than hurdles.” Such a campaign, she said, would help create a “strong union workforce in this city for generations to come.”

 

But there are many reasons why many non-union workers don’t cross over to a union. Colón remarked that often it is simply easiest for non-union trade workers to keep their jobs rather than devoting their time to unionization efforts. Workers may also be suspicious of unions and unwilling to pay potential dues, plus they may have the valid fear of losing their job. Non-union jobs are generally easy to find and quick to hire.

 

And for immigrant workers, it’s a whole other monster; documented or not, they may face harsh discrimination when trying to complete the certification process to unionize. If they are in fact undocumented, the idea of risking a job and possibly deportation to join organization efforts is daunting. As Brima Sylla, an ALU member and a Liberian immigrant who works as a stower on the morning shift at JFK8, told Jacobin earlier this month: “As immigrants, we work hard to live in this country, and we don’t want to jeopardize our jobs…I had to take a lot of precautions.” So Sylla would only talk about the union during breaks or after work, trying hard not to violate any rules.

 

According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, immigrants held 53 percent of the construction jobs in New York City in 2021. Many of the non-union workers in New York City are immigrants, and a large percentage of them are undocumented, though exact statistics are not logged. But it’s clear that in order for mass-unionization efforts to happen across the city’s construction industry, immigration reform is crucial. “These workers need a pathway to citizenship,” said Colón. “For most workers, that is their main goal—citizenship and then unionization.”

 

New laws in this arena are needed. “It’s going to take legislation,” Colón said, remarking that it would not be enough for workers to make demands on their own. “Legislation, however, won’t happen unless the workers themselves rise up.”