Council Speaker highlights staffers’ right to organize in email to members

Council Speaker Corey Johnson sent an email to members reminding them of staffers’ legal right to organize. Eagle file photo by Victoria Merlino

By David Brand

Four days after City Council staffers officially kicked off a unionization effort, Council Speaker Corey Johnson sent an email to members highlighting their aides’ right to organize.

The email, shared with the Eagle, comes a day after Johnson discussed the legal right to unionize with members of the Democratic conference.

“I am writing to ensure that everyone knows that under applicable law, Council staff are entitled to form, join, and participate in a union of their own choosing,” Johnson wrote in the email. “Any deliberate discouragement or interference with staff’s ability to exercise those rights in this regard is prohibited.”

“All Council Members, their Chiefs of Staff, Division Directors, and other supervisors should be particularly aware of this prohibition and ensure that they do not engage in any form of retaliation against any staffer who seeks to unionize,” he continued.

Council staffers kicked off the union drive on Nov. 18, galvanized by allegations of serial harassment and intimidation by Bronx Councilmember Andy King and other members. A report earlier this month by the Eagle also identified deep disparities in pay across districts and within offices, with dozens of aides earning incomes below $36,000.