New York City is a union town, and on May 14, the New York City Council passed Resolution 26, calling for the creation of a Labor History Month in the city’s public schools.

The measure aims to educate students about the labor movement’s role in securing workers’ rights, including workplace protections and the 40-hour workweek. A similar bill was passed by the California Legislature in 2023.

The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Alexa Avilés (D-Brooklyn), emphasizes the importance of advancing workers’ collective power amid declining union density nationwide. Avilés underscored the need to raise awareness about existing workplace protections and how they were won.

Council Member Alexa Aviles introduced Resolution 26, a bill calling for the creation of a Labor History Month in NYC’s Public Schools. File photo by Gabriele Holtermann

For Labor History Month to become a reality, however, the New York City Department of Education would need to establish the designation. The resolution calls for dedicating the month of May in honor of International Workers’ Day, or May Day, on May 1, which commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.

Avilés is encouraging residents to join her in advocating for the implementation of Resolution 26 by filling out a support form shared on her social media so young people can learn about the labor movement’s role in shaping society.

“It’s crucial to arm young people with knowledge so they can enter the workforce and advocate for their rights. We owe so much to the labor leaders of history who have stood up to demand protections we take for granted now — two-day weekends, child labor laws, and workplace safety protections, to name a few. Students deserve to be educated on the history of organized workers in our country,” Avilés said in a statement. “I’m proud to pass this resolution on the tails of hosting a labor town hall in my district, where we got to discuss workplace problems our neighbors are facing and how we can organize together to overcome them.”

Council Member Alexa Avilés recently hosted a labor town hall in her district.

Co-sponsors of the legislation included Brooklyn Council members Shahana Hanif and Kayla Santosuosso; Council Member Shirley Aldebol (D-Bronx), chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor; and Council Member and Deputy Leader Sandra Ung (D-Queens).

Hanif said workers’ rights were won through generations of organizing, sacrifice and collective action, and thanked Avilés for leading the effort to introduce labor history education in New York City public schools.

“At a time when unions and workers across the country continue to face attacks, it’s more important than ever that young people understand the history of the labor movement and the power workers have when they organize together,” Hanif said.

Council Member Shahana Hanif said workers’ rights were won through generations of organizing and sacrifice.File photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Santosuosso said the history of organized labor is the history of New York City.

“To teach students about unions is to teach them about the forces that have shaped the city they live in, and even specifically the schools they are learning in. Education should, above all else, be aimed at preparing our students for their adult lives,” Santosuosso said. “Understanding organized labor, collective bargaining, and union power will prepare young New Yorkers to enter the workforce and build a better city for all.”

The resolution also received support from labor advocates, including Eric Blanc, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University, and the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, or EWOC.

Blanc said many workplace protections workers take for granted were achieved through collective bargaining.

“In order to equip students to fight for their own rights and protections, it’s important that they learn our history. Far too often, the contributions of workers are buried or cast aside when we teach history,” Blanc said. “As an educator, I know that we must fight to keep that legacy alive inside our classrooms as union density declines and our federal administration attacks the workplace protections we are owed.”

Daphna Thier, organizing director at EWOC, highlighted New York City’s legacy of labor organizing and hard-won victories.

“It’s crucial that students are educated on our labor history, so they know how those that came before them fought and won important rights through labor unions — like even the right for children to go to school and not work,” Thier said. “We at EWOC educate workers on how to organize, but it’s this history that teaches them why they ought to.”