NYC Ferry Workers Are Organizing

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NYC Ferry Workers Are Coming Together

NYC ferry workers keep this city moving—safely, reliably, and with pride. Every day, we serve New Yorkers and visitors alike, often in challenging conditions, and we do it as professionals who care deeply about our work and each other.

Now, ferry workers are coming together to build a stronger voice on the job. By organizing, we’re standing up for fairness, dignity, and respect—so we can have a real say in our working conditions, safety, scheduling, and future.

This is about unity. It’s about supporting one another and making sure the people who make the ferries run are heard, valued, and treated right.

When workers have a voice, everyone benefits—workers, riders, and the city we serve.

Together, we can build something better.

Questions will be answered within 24 hours.

Member Questions:

Members submitting questions for public viewing will be posted here anonymously.

1. Are workers employed with this company unionized? If not, is there an effort to unionize them?
   • At this time, the workers employed with this company are not unionized. That said, there is renewed interest in organizing. Several of your co-workers have recently contacted us because they want to explore organizing again and to do so in a serious, protected way. If there’s interest in continuing the discussion, we’re happy to do so carefully, privately, and on workers’ terms.
2. Will the union help represent all departments including engineers and deckhands and captains? Can a representative that speaks Spanish and be advertised and present giving active translation so everyone can be well informed?

   • Right now, the union effort is focused on organizing deckhands and other non-licensed staff as they reached out to us to restart a campaign that had begun a year or two ago by one of our Locals. That said, unions are built to grow.  As more departments express interest and get involved, representation can expand over time…and we would welcome talking to all non-management workers at the ferry system who are interested.

     We also recognize how important language access is. We can build out a Spanish-language webpage that mirrors the English site, and we are committed to making sure information is shared in ways that everyone can understand. The goal is for all workers to be informed, included, and able to participate fully in the process.

     We commit to protecting everyone’s privacy in this process and are looking forward to helping you win an election and negotiating a contract you can all be proud of!

3. Could someone come in person to help organize the engineering department many people are interested but aren’t familiar with online mails?
   • The deckhands and customer service reached out to us looking for help with forming or joining a union. Now that someone from the engineering department has reached out to use we can absolutely help you., Engineers, organize.
4. Will the union come and help for pay many of us got “raises” but they only equal to less than a dollar?
   • The union’s responsibility is to represent workers in contract negotiations and to protect their rights and job security. During negotiations, the union advocates for improvements such as wage increases. Any tentative agreement reached must be approved by a vote of the membership before it can take effect.

Click here and TWU will mail you an election authorization card with a postage paid return envelope.

Request Authorization Card

Election process:

Key Steps in the Union Election Process under the National Labor Relations Board.

1. Signing Authorization Cards / Showing of Interest
   • To move forward, a certain percentage of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit must indicate support. Under the National Labor Relations Act,  at least 30%  of all eligible workers must sign union authorization cards as a “showing of interest” before an election petition is accepted.  At TWU we strive for at least 65% of eligible workers to create an overwhelming show of interest.
   • The cards or petitions are confidential — never shown to the employer.
   • Signing a union authorization card does not constitute a vote for the union.  The card only asks the relevant government authority, in this case, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that you are seeking a union election.
2. Filing a Petition with the NLRB
   • Once the targeted % of cards are gathered, the union will hand-deliver them directly to the NLRB’s regional Office.
   • Along with the cards, the union’s legal team submits other required documents (e.g., blank forms for statements of position, descriptions of procedures) and a “showing of interest declaration.”
   • The NLRB will review the declaration and all submitted documents.
3. Employer Notice & NLRB Processing
   • Once the union authorization cards are accepted, the employer will be notified and will be required to send over the list of eligible employees along with copies of each worker’s signature for verification.
   • Once the NLRB verifies that there are at least 30% valid cards in their possession, tand there are no objections as to who should/should not be included in the potential bargaining unit by the employer, the NLRB will call an election.
   • Any workers hired before the filing of the cards will be allowed to vote provided they are still employed up and until the closing of the vote regardless of whether they signed an authorization card or not.
   • The company will also be obligated to provide the union with the names of those who will be eligible to vote.  The union will monitor and confirm the list throughout the election.
4. Conducting the Election
   • The election will be held in person at a designated work location.
   • An election voting period notification, sample ballot and other NLRB documents must be posted in your workplace.
   • The manual counting of the ballots will be conducted at the designated work location, where both the union and the company observers will watch the opening of the ballots.
   • A simple majority of ballots cast will determine the outcome of the election.  A tie will result in a union loss as a majority showing of interest was not reached.
   • Should the union not prevail, workers will be barred for one (1) year before being legally allowed to file for another election that will require new signed authorization cards.
5. Certification / Recognition and Obligation to Bargain
   • If the union wins, the NLRB certifies it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the workers who sought representation within 24 hours.
   • The employer is legally obliged to bargain in good faith with the certified union.

Ever wonder what the union-busting playbook looks like from one of the nation’s most notorious union-busting law firms? These are some of the things you could likely see and hear once the company finds out you’re organizing. It’s a scheme to scare you from forming a union. Although the playbook here describes an NLRB organizing scenario, this playbook can also be used in an NMB organizing drive like yours.  Click here.

Want to hear more about union busting? Check out the video produced by APA. Click here.