Labor unions drawing next generation of leaders from millennials, Gen Z
Imran Ansari, left, of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Grant Newburger, of the Nassau Suffolk Building Trades, at the Hauppauge building where both organizations have offices. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Overall support of unions is at some of its highest levels in decades nationwide, but no demographic is more supportive than Gen Z and millennial workers.
Roughly 70% of Americans support unions, according to a new Gallup poll. That figure is up from the 67% who supported them in 2023, and the percentage of those supporting the work of unions is at its highest levels since the 1960s.
Among younger Americans, support is even higher, with 78% of polled 18- to 29-year-olds saying they supported unions this year. For Americans ages 30 to 49, 71% said they supported unions in the recent poll.
"I think one of the things that have happened is the labor movement has become cool again," said Mary Anne Trasciatti, director of labor studies at Hofstra University. Even in her work as a professor, Trasciatti said, she is seeing more students enrolling in labor studies courses of one stripe or another.
"There is an energy there that wasn’t there for most of my lifetime," said Trasciatti, 61. "There is a small but steady uptick in interest."
Trasciatti and other union advocates on Long Island say a big reason behind younger people's support of the labor movement has been headline-grabbing labor disputes and union drives nationwide.
Last year, the nation saw the successful contract negotiation of Teamster UPS workers, the monthslong strike by Hollywood film and television writers and then actors, and the successes of UAW-backed autoworkers at the nation’s three largest auto manufacturers.
Combined, these major union actions have captured the imaginations of young workers, many of whom make up the ranks of lower-service industry jobs.
"Young people are more energized about issues of work and workplace organizing," Trasciatti said. "They’re more knowledgeable, and even kids going to college understand that they’re going to leave and not necessarily get a high-paying white-collar job."
Younger Americans, namely millennials (born 1981-1996) and Gen Z (born 1997-2012), have struggled to attain the American dream of their parents’ or grandparents’ era, said Ryan Stanton, 36, executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor in Hauppauge.
"Young people have had their American dream delayed," Stanton said. "And they’ve collectively identified the union movement as the best and most effective way to deliver on the American dream for themselves."
Stanton said many younger Americans, especially those living on Long Island, have had to delay major milestones — like marriage, buying a home and starting a family — because of financial constraints. As a result, many are willing to fight for more at work.
"Their rights as workers have been eroded for decades and they know there’s a direct correlation between union density and their access to a better standard of living," Stanton said.
Seven young Long Islanders involved in the labor movement talked to Newsday about how they got involved and why unions are popular among their peers.
Leeana Lee, 25, an Elmont resident who helped organize her Garden City Starbucks earlier this year, is part of a large number of young workers who have organized the Seattle-based coffee chain in recent years.
Since the initial organizing of two locations in Buffalo at the end of 2021, Starbucks Workers United, the union representing baristas with the chain, has grown to include 491 unionized stores and more than 10,000 workers nationwide.
On Long Island, employees at stores in Farmingville, Westbury, Lynbrook, Massapequa, Wantagh, Old Westbury, Garden City, Port Jefferson and West Hempstead have joined Workers United over the past two years. Most local organizers are in their early 20s.
Lee, who began working at Starbucks in September of last year, said she immediately started hearing complaints from co-workers and quickly jumped on board organizing efforts.
"My mom always told me if you have a voice, the stupidest thing you can do is not use it," Lee said. "My friends were going though really tough working conditions and we had a way of having our voices heard."
Lee said she’d always had a positive view of unions, but hadn’t helped form one despite her volunteer efforts as an activist.
She said she and others her age often felt like older corporate leaders and politicians put up barriers for younger workers, which created a frustration and desire to push for more in the workplace.
"I think that we bring in a new wave of ideas," she said of younger Americans contributions to unions.
For Imran Ansari, 33, political director of the Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, his support for the labor movement stemmed from his childhood experiences with his own mother’s working conditions.
"My mom worked for McDonald's her entire career," said Ansari, who lives in Huntington Station. From a young age, Ansari said he saw his mother deal with low wages and few protections on the job.
"Before I could name it, I always knew there had to be a better system than the one that existed," he said. "The fight for $15, specifically, that campaign was personal to me."
Ansari, a Hofstra political science major, said his desire to help working families led him to a career in politics, first as an executive assistant for former Congressman Steve Israel and later as a regional Nassau representative for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Through that work Ansari found how many of the priorities of local labor groups and leaders aligned with his beliefs, he said.
"Some of my favorite things to go and advocate for were the same priorities the unions were fighting for," he said.
Now, through his work with the Long Island Federation of Labor, Ansari feels like he’s on the right side of the issues impacting his community, he said.
"When I see what’s going on around Long Island, around the state, and nationally with the cost of living and people really struggling, I feel like I go to work every day offering a solution," Ansari said.
Daniel Lozano, 25, a solar panel installer with EmPower Solar on Long Island, said he had no previous experience with unions when he organized his workplace, which joined UAW Local 259 late last year.
Lozano, a Bethpage resident and electrician, said he was on the job for less than a year when conversations with co-workers over workplace issues turned to talk of unionizing.
"For a lot of my co-workers, it was about time," he said. "A lot of them were just glad that someone was doing it."
Lozano said much of his inspiration to push for a union at his job came from reading about the Teamsters negotiations with UPS last summer.
"A big driver and force behind it were the Teamsters and UPS gearing up to strike," Lozano said. "That was an easy example to point to and say, ‘Hey, this is what workers can do when they come together. How cool it was to have that strength?’ "
Lozano said he only learned about unions and the labor movement while participating in other areas of activism, such as work with Jobs With Justice, the local arm of a national pro-labor organization, and New York Communities for Change, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit.
"I never really had anyone in my family that was in a union," he said.
Still, he said his labor organizing had been an extension of his social justice concerns.
"It kind of came from seeing the problems of homelessness, people in poverty, not having adequate social programs, and seeing things that are wrong in this country," he said. "It just came from a position of empathy."
Nikki Kateman, 35, political & communications director at Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW — which represents grocery, agricultural and pharmacy workers — had planned to go to law school before she found her way into the labor movement.
"Between my first and second year in college the union offered an internship program," Kateman said. "I was going to go to law school, and it just seemed like an interesting space to get some experience. I loved it so much I never left."
Kateman, who lives in Woodside, Queens, but works in Mineola, said she grew up exposed to the labor movement from a young age. Her father, a retired Walbaum’s employee and Local 338 member, made it clear how important the union was to her family’s finances.
"I definitely remember going with my dad to union ratification votes," she said. "It was always an undercurrent and the norm to me was to know someone in a union."
One reason younger Americans have a favorable view of organized labor is how it intersects with other issues of importance to them, such as racial and gender equality, Kateman said.
"There is this alignment of economic and social justice that happens in the labor movement that speaks to young people’s moral compass," she said.
"I get to do a job that pays my rent but also makes a difference in the world whether people know my name or not," Kateman said. "It’s fundamentally aligned with my personal values."
Many young workers, especially those who have finished secondary schooling, feel disillusioned by an economy that has made it harder for them to achieve the same level of financial stability their parents may have enjoyed, she said.
"Young people were told all their lives if you work hard you can succeed, but the goalposts keep moving," she said. "As long as big business places profits over people, I think you’re going to have people who want to join the movement."
When Farmingville resident Marvin Tavarez, 38, was growing up in Corona, Queens, his father’s career advice was simple: learn a trade and join a union.
Tavarez, a business agent with Sheet Metal Workers Local 28 in New York City, said that advice has served him well.
"Coming from a Dominican background growing up in Queens, you either start running the streets like your friends, or get a job in maintenance," he said.
"I knew early on that being in a construction union was my way out, to provide a better life not just for myself, but my family," Tavarez said. "Because of the union, we were able to purchase our home."
At 18, Tavarez got into welding and for the first few years of his career worked in nonunion jobs. The wages and benefits weren’t enough to support his new family, said Tavarez, who became a father at age 19.
"I worked nonunion until I was about 25 and then I said I have to do something," Tavarez said. "I sent my resume to every sheet metal local in the U.S."
Eventually, he was offered membership into Local 28.
"A couple months after that, something started burning up inside me," he said. "I was so grateful for the opportunity that I wanted to make sure I was one of those people that gave back."
While he was often one of the younger members to be actively involved in union leadership and volunteer efforts, Tavarez said, that’s been changing in recent years.
One reason for that, he said, has been the ongoing efforts of Starbucks workers to organize their shops, and younger Americans experiencing the realities of the job market for the first time.
"They’re seeing that the typical job market doesn’t support them with anything but subpar wages," he said. "They’re realizing if you fight back, build a coalition and make demands, great things can be possible."
Grant Newburger, 27, director of communications and organizing for the Nassau-Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council, said he found his home in the labor movement after a career in local politics.
Newburger, who worked for state Assemb. Charles Lavine in Glen Cove, and later for former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, said his work in public service laid the groundwork for his move into labor advocacy.
"The best part of my job is I get to fight for my neighbors," he said. "When I show up for a hearing to try to get our membership onto a job site, it really does feel like fighting for the little guy."
Newburger said cost of living and issues of affordability are top of mind for Long Island millennials and Gen Z, and as a result, support of unions makes sense, he said.
"If I didn’t have a serious significant other and roommates, I’d wouldn’t be able to afford the quality of life that I have," said Newburger, who lives in Glen Cove with his girlfriend and two best friends, both of whom work in local and state politics.
For some young Long Islanders, the choice to support unions comes down to simple access to higher wages and benefits.
Three years ago, Emma Chicas, 28, an office cleaner with no previous knowledge of unions, helped her workplace organize and join SEIU Local 32BJ, which represents 180,000 office cleaners, building maintenance, operations and security workers across 12 states.
The group represents 1,400 workers on Long Island at 150 office locations.
"I understood the benefits I would have in the future," Chicas said in Spanish through a translator. "At that point, our building didn’t have any benefits. I was just so happy we were going to start having benefits."
Chicas, who moved to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2016, said many of her co-workers were scared about unionizing when first approached by representatives of 32BJ.
She said many of her co-workers were older and unaware that organizing was an option for workers. As a younger worker, she thinks it was easier for her to be more outspoken about workplace concerns, she said.
"A lot of us are not afraid of saying what we think and researching what our rights are," Chicas said. "It brings a lot of good energy to organizing in the workplace."
Overall support of unions is at some of its highest levels in decades nationwide, but no demographic is more supportive than Gen Z and millennial workers.
Roughly 70% of Americans support unions, according to a new Gallup poll. That figure is up from the 67% who supported them in 2023, and the percentage of those supporting the work of unions is at its highest levels since the 1960s.
Among younger Americans, support is even higher, with 78% of polled 18- to 29-year-olds saying they supported unions this year. For Americans ages 30 to 49, 71% said they supported unions in the recent poll.
"I think one of the things that have happened is the labor movement has become cool again," said Mary Anne Trasciatti, director of labor studies at Hofstra University. Even in her work as a professor, Trasciatti said, she is seeing more students enrolling in labor studies courses of one stripe or another.
"There is an energy there that wasn’t there for most of my lifetime," said Trasciatti, 61. "There is a small but steady uptick in interest."
Trasciatti and other union advocates on Long Island say a big reason behind younger people's support of the labor movement has been headline-grabbing labor disputes and union drives nationwide.
Last year, the nation saw the successful contract negotiation of Teamster UPS workers, the monthslong strike by Hollywood film and television writers and then actors, and the successes of UAW-backed autoworkers at the nation’s three largest auto manufacturers.
Combined, these major union actions have captured the imaginations of young workers, many of whom make up the ranks of lower-service industry jobs.
"Young people are more energized about issues of work and workplace organizing," Trasciatti said. "They’re more knowledgeable, and even kids going to college understand that they’re going to leave and not necessarily get a high-paying white-collar job."
Younger Americans, namely millennials (born 1981-1996) and Gen Z (born 1997-2012), have struggled to attain the American dream of their parents’ or grandparents’ era, said Ryan Stanton, 36, executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor in Hauppauge.
"Young people have had their American dream delayed," Stanton said. "And they’ve collectively identified the union movement as the best and most effective way to deliver on the American dream for themselves."
Stanton said many younger Americans, especially those living on Long Island, have had to delay major milestones — like marriage, buying a home and starting a family — because of financial constraints. As a result, many are willing to fight for more at work.
"Their rights as workers have been eroded for decades and they know there’s a direct correlation between union density and their access to a better standard of living," Stanton said.
Seven young Long Islanders involved in the labor movement talked to Newsday about how they got involved and why unions are popular among their peers.
I think that we bring in a new wave of ideas.
— Leeana Lee, 25, of Elmont
Credit: Howard Schnapp
Starbucks Workers United
Leeana Lee, 25, an Elmont resident who helped organize her Garden City Starbucks earlier this year, is part of a large number of young workers who have organized the Seattle-based coffee chain in recent years.
Since the initial organizing of two locations in Buffalo at the end of 2021, Starbucks Workers United, the union representing baristas with the chain, has grown to include 491 unionized stores and more than 10,000 workers nationwide.
On Long Island, employees at stores in Farmingville, Westbury, Lynbrook, Massapequa, Wantagh, Old Westbury, Garden City, Port Jefferson and West Hempstead have joined Workers United over the past two years. Most local organizers are in their early 20s.
Lee, who began working at Starbucks in September of last year, said she immediately started hearing complaints from co-workers and quickly jumped on board organizing efforts.
"My mom always told me if you have a voice, the stupidest thing you can do is not use it," Lee said. "My friends were going though really tough working conditions and we had a way of having our voices heard."
Lee said she’d always had a positive view of unions, but hadn’t helped form one despite her volunteer efforts as an activist.
She said she and others her age often felt like older corporate leaders and politicians put up barriers for younger workers, which created a frustration and desire to push for more in the workplace.
"I think that we bring in a new wave of ideas," she said of younger Americans contributions to unions.
The fight for $15, specifically, that campaign was personal to me.
— Imran Ansari, 33, Huntington Station
Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO political director
For Imran Ansari, 33, political director of the Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, his support for the labor movement stemmed from his childhood experiences with his own mother’s working conditions.
"My mom worked for McDonald's her entire career," said Ansari, who lives in Huntington Station. From a young age, Ansari said he saw his mother deal with low wages and few protections on the job.
"Before I could name it, I always knew there had to be a better system than the one that existed," he said. "The fight for $15, specifically, that campaign was personal to me."
Ansari, a Hofstra political science major, said his desire to help working families led him to a career in politics, first as an executive assistant for former Congressman Steve Israel and later as a regional Nassau representative for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Through that work Ansari found how many of the priorities of local labor groups and leaders aligned with his beliefs, he said.
"Some of my favorite things to go and advocate for were the same priorities the unions were fighting for," he said.
Now, through his work with the Long Island Federation of Labor, Ansari feels like he’s on the right side of the issues impacting his community, he said.
"When I see what’s going on around Long Island, around the state, and nationally with the cost of living and people really struggling, I feel like I go to work every day offering a solution," Ansari said.
I never really had anyone in my family that was in a union.
— Daniel Lozano, 25, Bethpage
Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
UAW Local 259
Daniel Lozano, 25, a solar panel installer with EmPower Solar on Long Island, said he had no previous experience with unions when he organized his workplace, which joined UAW Local 259 late last year.
Lozano, a Bethpage resident and electrician, said he was on the job for less than a year when conversations with co-workers over workplace issues turned to talk of unionizing.
"For a lot of my co-workers, it was about time," he said. "A lot of them were just glad that someone was doing it."
Lozano said much of his inspiration to push for a union at his job came from reading about the Teamsters negotiations with UPS last summer.
"A big driver and force behind it were the Teamsters and UPS gearing up to strike," Lozano said. "That was an easy example to point to and say, ‘Hey, this is what workers can do when they come together. How cool it was to have that strength?’ "
Lozano said he only learned about unions and the labor movement while participating in other areas of activism, such as work with Jobs With Justice, the local arm of a national pro-labor organization, and New York Communities for Change, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit.
"I never really had anyone in my family that was in a union," he said.
Still, he said his labor organizing had been an extension of his social justice concerns.
"It kind of came from seeing the problems of homelessness, people in poverty, not having adequate social programs, and seeing things that are wrong in this country," he said. "It just came from a position of empathy."
There is this alignment of economic and social justice that happens in the labor movement that speaks to young people’s moral compass.
— Nikki Kateman, 35, Woodside, Queens
Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW political & communications director
Nikki Kateman, 35, political & communications director at Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW — which represents grocery, agricultural and pharmacy workers — had planned to go to law school before she found her way into the labor movement.
"Between my first and second year in college the union offered an internship program," Kateman said. "I was going to go to law school, and it just seemed like an interesting space to get some experience. I loved it so much I never left."
Kateman, who lives in Woodside, Queens, but works in Mineola, said she grew up exposed to the labor movement from a young age. Her father, a retired Walbaum’s employee and Local 338 member, made it clear how important the union was to her family’s finances.
"I definitely remember going with my dad to union ratification votes," she said. "It was always an undercurrent and the norm to me was to know someone in a union."
One reason younger Americans have a favorable view of organized labor is how it intersects with other issues of importance to them, such as racial and gender equality, Kateman said.
"There is this alignment of economic and social justice that happens in the labor movement that speaks to young people’s moral compass," she said.
"I get to do a job that pays my rent but also makes a difference in the world whether people know my name or not," Kateman said. "It’s fundamentally aligned with my personal values."
Many young workers, especially those who have finished secondary schooling, feel disillusioned by an economy that has made it harder for them to achieve the same level of financial stability their parents may have enjoyed, she said.
"Young people were told all their lives if you work hard you can succeed, but the goalposts keep moving," she said. "As long as big business places profits over people, I think you’re going to have people who want to join the movement."
The construction union has provided "a better life not just for myself, but my family. Because of the union, we were able to purchase our home.
— Marvin Tavarez, 38, Farmingville
Newsday/John Paraskevas
Sheet Metal Workers Local 28 in New York City
When Farmingville resident Marvin Tavarez, 38, was growing up in Corona, Queens, his father’s career advice was simple: learn a trade and join a union.
Tavarez, a business agent with Sheet Metal Workers Local 28 in New York City, said that advice has served him well.
"Coming from a Dominican background growing up in Queens, you either start running the streets like your friends, or get a job in maintenance," he said.
"I knew early on that being in a construction union was my way out, to provide a better life not just for myself, but my family," Tavarez said. "Because of the union, we were able to purchase our home."
At 18, Tavarez got into welding and for the first few years of his career worked in nonunion jobs. The wages and benefits weren’t enough to support his new family, said Tavarez, who became a father at age 19.
"I worked nonunion until I was about 25 and then I said I have to do something," Tavarez said. "I sent my resume to every sheet metal local in the U.S."
Eventually, he was offered membership into Local 28.
"A couple months after that, something started burning up inside me," he said. "I was so grateful for the opportunity that I wanted to make sure I was one of those people that gave back."
While he was often one of the younger members to be actively involved in union leadership and volunteer efforts, Tavarez said, that’s been changing in recent years.
One reason for that, he said, has been the ongoing efforts of Starbucks workers to organize their shops, and younger Americans experiencing the realities of the job market for the first time.
"They’re seeing that the typical job market doesn’t support them with anything but subpar wages," he said. "They’re realizing if you fight back, build a coalition and make demands, great things can be possible."
The best part of my job is I get to fight for my neighbors.
— Grant Newburger, 27, Glen Cove
Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Nassau-Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council director of communications and organizing
Grant Newburger, 27, director of communications and organizing for the Nassau-Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council, said he found his home in the labor movement after a career in local politics.
Newburger, who worked for state Assemb. Charles Lavine in Glen Cove, and later for former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, said his work in public service laid the groundwork for his move into labor advocacy.
"The best part of my job is I get to fight for my neighbors," he said. "When I show up for a hearing to try to get our membership onto a job site, it really does feel like fighting for the little guy."
Newburger said cost of living and issues of affordability are top of mind for Long Island millennials and Gen Z, and as a result, support of unions makes sense, he said.
"If I didn’t have a serious significant other and roommates, I’d wouldn’t be able to afford the quality of life that I have," said Newburger, who lives in Glen Cove with his girlfriend and two best friends, both of whom work in local and state politics.
A lot of us are not afraid of saying what we think and researching what our rights are.
— Emma Chicas, 28, Brentwood
Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
SEIU Local 32BJ
For some young Long Islanders, the choice to support unions comes down to simple access to higher wages and benefits.
Three years ago, Emma Chicas, 28, an office cleaner with no previous knowledge of unions, helped her workplace organize and join SEIU Local 32BJ, which represents 180,000 office cleaners, building maintenance, operations and security workers across 12 states.
The group represents 1,400 workers on Long Island at 150 office locations.
"I understood the benefits I would have in the future," Chicas said in Spanish through a translator. "At that point, our building didn’t have any benefits. I was just so happy we were going to start having benefits."
Chicas, who moved to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2016, said many of her co-workers were scared about unionizing when first approached by representatives of 32BJ.
She said many of her co-workers were older and unaware that organizing was an option for workers. As a younger worker, she thinks it was easier for her to be more outspoken about workplace concerns, she said.
"A lot of us are not afraid of saying what we think and researching what our rights are," Chicas said. "It brings a lot of good energy to organizing in the workplace."
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
