We are the Association of Legislative Employees, ALE, which represents approximately 400 Council Member Aides and Finance Analysts at the New York City Council. Staff created ALE to secure living wages and fair treatment for all who work at the City Council.

Our union has been recognized since 2021, but we are still bargaining for our first contract! The reason for this, plain and simple, is that management does not treat bargaining like a priority. In the last six months, we have only had four bargaining sessions. This pace of bargaining is unacceptable. 

Last month, just days before our scheduled November bargaining session, management canceled the session. The next available date offered: December 21. 

Help us tell the City Council: bargain like you mean it! Council staffers deserve a fair contract, and in order to achieve that, we need regular meetings with management. We demand that the Council commit to at least two bargaining sessions per month until we reach an agreement. If the Council is serious about coming to an agreement with its hardworking and dedicated staff, they need to treat bargaining like the priority that it is. 

What’s at stake? For years, City Council staffers have been grossly overworked, underpaid, and subject to arbitrary discipline or dismissal. We are fighting to make City Council a living wage employer, with benefits commensurate with other civil service employers and true workplace protections. Help us make City Council a great place to work!