On Tuesday morning, workers for The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) delivered a letter to management demanding that they recognize their right to unionize.
Dubbing themselves NYIC United, about 40 workers have been organizing since April for better pay and a greater voice in the direction of the organization. The workers’ demands also include increased protections for immigrant workers, support for their immigration cases, financial transparency and pay equity.
NYIC workers, many of whom are immigrants, are seeking to join the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, which represents over 103,000 workers across technology, healthcare, higher education and nonprofit sectors nationally .
First founded in 1987, NYIC is a coalition of more than 200 immigrant and refugee organizations across the state that serves over 2.5 million immigrant New Yorkers. In 2024, the organization brought in $22.9 million in revenue.
Much of NYIC’s work revolves around advocating for immigration policy reform, worker rights, and providing low-cost legal and health services for immigrants. In 2025, NYIC helped secure $78.4 million for immigrant legal services in the five boroughs, as well as an additional $64.2 million from Albany.
Several of their board members also hold leadership positions in some of the state’s most influential labor unions, such as 32BJ SEIU and the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board . NYIC’s relationship with labor unions and its commitment to immigrants is what employees say makes NYIC vital to the communities it serves.
NYIC employs 90 staff members across offices throughout New York State, including Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and New York City. Of the 50 eligible workers who would be represented by the union, 80% signed union cards, according to the union who spoke with Documented.
The workers also said the union would represent workers from all of the NYIC’s departments, including advocacy, programs, policy, development, operations, membership and capacity building, communications, and legal.
A spokesperson for NYIC declined Documented’s request for comment.
The union drive at NYIC is only the latest immigrant service nonprofit to seek union representation.
Last year, staff members at UnLocal, a non-profit that provides direct immigration legal representation, demanded that the organization voluntarily recognize their right to form a union with UAW Local 2325. In 2022, employees at New Immigrant Community Empowerment in Queens were also able to secure a union contract.
Hoping to avoid a drawn-out union election, workers with NYIC United presented a voluntary recognition letter to management on Tuesday, calling on the organization’s executive leadership to swiftly — and without interference — recognize the union.
There are two ways workers can gain union recognition from their employer: voluntary recognition or a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). However, workers are hoping management will voluntarily recognize the workers’ union without having to force a union election. In 2025, after the Trump administration effectively defanged the NLRB, the agency saw a 30% drop in union elections, with the likelihood of a new union winning a union election falling by 70%.
“At NYIC, we work day in and day out to see a New York where immigrant communities are met with the dignity and humanity we deserve,” said Jahaira Roldan, a 29-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant who is NYIC’s manager of organizing & strategy, in a statement. “We, as advocates, are seen as the experts in understanding what it takes to create a people-powered movement strong enough to propel forward holistic protections.”
Nepali immigrant and NYIC’s senior manager of Immigrant Rights Policy Devashish Basnet believes that the union drive aligns with the organization’s values.
On International Workers Day, on May 1, NYIC marched alongside labor unions in defense of immigrant workers’ rights.
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“Unions are for everyone, regardless of immigration status, and as a DACA recipient and TPS holder from Nepal, I am proud to be forming a union with my incredible coworkers at NYIC,” he said in a statement. “I am proud to work at an organization that champions immigrant justice, and I believe that with a collective voice at the table, we can strengthen our work and deliver stronger protections for our communities.”
NYIC workers like Roldan, whose mother was a union hotel housekeeper with the Hotel Trades Council, said she knows firsthand how a union would give workers a sense of stability.
“The labor movement has delivered for immigrant families,” she said. “I know the power of a union job here in New York City. It means protection in the workplace, economic mobility, and solidarity.”
