On June 9, 2026, staff at the New York Immigration Coalition rolled out NYIC United, the organization’s first staff union, organizing with OPEIU Local 153. Organizers say a supermajority of eligible employees have signed union authorization cards and a voluntary recognition letter, and they are urging executive leadership to recognize the union without interference. The campaign brings together employees from every department and NYIC offices across the state, with stated priorities that include stronger protections for immigrant clients, more financial transparency and pay equity.
Organizers present voluntary recognition letter
Organizers report that roughly 80% of eligible staff have signed union authorization cards and about 70% have signed a voluntary recognition letter, which they presented to management this week, according to OPEIU Local 153. NYIC United says it represents employees from advocacy, programs, policy, development, operations, membership and legal teams across the coalition. Staff describe the effort as an attempt to bring the organization’s internal workplace practices in line with the immigrant-rights values it promotes in public.
What NYIC is and who it serves
The New York Immigration Coalition is a New York City based advocacy network that brings together more than 200 member organizations and runs offices and programming across the state, according to the group’s website. NYIC traces its roots to the late 1980s, and New York City government materials highlight the coalition’s decades-long role in state-level immigrant policy work. Organizers say that long history is part of why they view the unionization effort as a historic first for the organization.
Part of a wider nonprofit union wave
The NYIC drive arrives amid a series of nonprofit organizing campaigns with OPEIU. Earlier this year, OPEIU reported that International Rescue Committee staff ratified a contract that covers dozens of offices and hundreds of workers nationwide. OPEIU has framed that agreement as part of growing momentum to secure wage and job protections for employees at humanitarian and immigrant-service organizations. Local 153 has backed other organizing drives in New York City in recent months, signaling an uptick in union activity across the nonprofit sector.
What happens next
NYIC United has asked management to recognize the union by accepting the voluntary recognition letter. If leadership declines, organizers can file a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board to seek a secret-ballot election or card-check recognition, in line with NLRB guidance. The NLRB explains that employers may voluntarily recognize a union based on authorization-card evidence or instead move to an NLRB-supervised election to resolve representation questions. Organizers say they plan to keep talking with coworkers and expect a prompt response from management so they can move toward bargaining.
