Labor-backed Queens council candidate accused of union busting
/
Council District 25 candidate Shekar Krishnan has received endorsements from New York City’s leading labor union, but has been accused of union busting. Campaign photo
By David Brand
At least one powerful labor union is reviewing claims that its favored Queens council candidate once helped kill an organizing drive.
DC37, the city’s largest public workers union, endorsed Shekar Krishnan for a council seat in Jackson Heights’ District 25 in January before learning about accusations that he worked to stifle an organizing effort at a legal services nonprofit. DC37 spokesperson Freddi Goldstein said the union was seeking more information about the claim.
“This was recently brought to our attention and we’re looking into it,” Goldstein said.
Krishnan, an attorney and local Democratic club president, also received endorsements from 32BJ, 1199SEIU, the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Central Labor Council as he vies for the seat held by term-limited Councilmember Daniel Dromm.
But the leaders of two attorneys’ unions say Krishnan’s pro-union persona is a front. They say he actively discouraged staff from organizing at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, where he was a manager. City & State’s Campaign Confidential first reported on the union-busting allegations Wednesday.
The accusation dates back to 2018, when lawyers at the legal nonprofit, known as Brooklyn A, sought voluntary union recognition. Management instead forced them to hold an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board and the employees later withdrew their petition to unionize.
In a statement circulated last month, Legal Services Staff Association 2320 President Sonja Shield and Association of Legal Aid Attorneys 2325 President Lisa Ohta said Krishnan “played a leading role in quashing the Brooklyn A staff unionization drive.”
“We urge other unions not to endorse Krishnan, or to withdraw existing endorsements, due to this union-busting,” Shield and Ohta said in a statement March 11.
Krishnan, they said, actively discouraged staff from joining the LSSA during meetings.
“In one such meeting for staff in Krishnan’s unit, Krishnan proclaimed that the organization had more flexible policies than other organizations and the best parental leave in the industry, which was false,” they said. “Krishnan also tried to pit attorney- and non-attorney staff against one another to disrupt the unity of his staff and the union-organizing effort.”
On Thursday, Shield said she stood by what she and Ohta said in the March statement, but added that she was not calling on unions to reverse their endorsements.
“We did not proactively ask other unions to rescind their endorsements of Shekar prior to their endorsement process being conducted and are not asking for them to rescind their endorsements now,” she said
“Our intent was to share information about the union-busting history and we want other unions to be aware of that,” Shield said.
The Eagle obtained an August 2018 email from a group identifying themselves as “Brooklyn A Support Staff,” which praised the decision to end the union drive and indicated that the effort was “divisive in many ways, including by race, gender and family status — namely, those with children and those without.”
When asked about the email, Shield said management had worked to sow division between attorneys and support staff after employees announced their intent to unionize.
“Divide and conquer is a typical strategy of union busters,” she said.
Ohta did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Former Brooklyn A staff members declined to speak on the record and an organization spokesperson said “management stayed neutral.”
Krishnan ripped the allegations in a statement Thursday, calling the union-busting claim “a vicious lie with no basis in reality.”
“The truth is that I have always supported unionizing workers and I am proud to have the support of every labor union involved in this race,” he said.
Despite the accusations, Krishnan has so far maintained his support among the city’s leading labor groups.
The UFT, 32BJ, 1199SEIU and Communication Workers of America did not provide a response to requests for comment Tuesday. A spokesperson for the NYCLC said the labor federation does not comment on its endorsement process.
Each organization continues to back Krishnan in the crowded race to replace Dromm.
A high-ranking official at one of the unions that endorsed Krishnan said the labor groups did not know about the union-busting accusations before making their endorsements. The unions are hoping the story goes away so they can save face, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely.
“It's maddening. Endorsing a candidate that union-busted, that's insane,” they added.
Update: Friday, April 9 at 3:26 p.m. — This is story has been updated to clarify that Shield and Ohta say they are not asking unions to rescind their endorsements of Krishnan.
