Out of all the unions Alex Dinndorf has supported, unionizing The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center on West 13th Street in Manhattan marked a first. 

“I’ll be totally honest. I’ve never been voluntarily recognized [by management] before,” Dinndorf told The Indypendent. 

Still, he wasn’t completely surprised. “Voluntary recognition is twofold: Management wants to work with the union, but also, the workers signed a supermajority [of union authorization cards],” Dinndorf continued. “They would have won an election regardless.”

Dinndorf is the organizing committee chair at CWA Local 1180, the New York City division of Communications Workers of America. According to a press release from the CWA, the new union, Center Workers United, will serve over 60 employees. 

“I think this was a moment where management took an opportunity to trust their staff and to collaborate with us,” said Salem Joseph, who has worked with youth at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (The Center) for over six years.  

“I don’t really know the motives behind The Center’s voluntary recognition,” said Silas Norum-Gross, an organizer who has worked as a substance-use treatment counselor at The Center for four years. “Is it adhering to values? Is it adhering to the mission? Is it in the interest of avoiding conflict? I don’t know. But I do know that it was really great to not only be recognized, but to be seen,” Norum-Gross added. 

For non-profits, running anti-union campaigns can quickly backfire, Dinndorf explained: “Funding and public image … definitely play into it.” Still, he said, “It’s a sign of goodwill early on.”

According to an email sent to staff, one of the reasons The Center’s CEO Dr. Carla Smith opted to voluntarily recognize Center Workers United was the organizers’ persistent hard work.

“The workers prepared for it. The workers have been building a union for a long time.” Dinndorf said. “They did everything by the books.” 

Established in 1983 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, The Center now uses its $15.6 million annual budget to provide HIV, substance use, and other health services to queer New Yorkers, as well as career support, community groups, and cultural programming. It also houses the LGBT Community Center National History Archive, the Keith Haring Bathrooms, and a cafe and patio that are open to the public. 

Organizers with Center Workers United advocated for a variety of improvements in job security, salaries, safety measures for front-facing staff, and health insurance, including greater provisions for individuals seeking gender-affirming care. While workers expressed gratitude for The Center’s existing gender-affirming-care-related benefits, they noted that benefits could be expanded to serve newer employees.  

After months of meeting, educating and organizing, Center Workers United marched on the boss, delivering a vision statement to management on March 13. “For too long, we have suffered short staffing, burdensome caseloads, minimal safety planning, a lack of opportunities for career growth, and low compensation,” the statement read. “Fair working conditions allow The Center to retain skilled, experienced workers who are satisfied in and dedicated to their roles.” The next day, Smith sent an email unofficially recognizing the union.

While unionization talks had stirred at The Center for years, it was a recent instance of solidarity at work that inspired employees to mobilize, Norum-Gross explained: In January 2024, 115 current and former Center employees signed a letter in solidarity with Palestine, denouncing the ongoing genocide in Gaza and “Israel’s use of pinkwashing as a racist and cynical ploy to divert attention from the relentless oppression of Palestinians.”

“As civic leaders and proponents of human rights who live and pay taxes in the United States, we have an even greater moral responsibility to speak out and demand a ceasefire now,” the letter states. 

The letter also acknowledges that “since the October 7th attack, Islamophobia and antisemitism have been on the rise. We, as workers, are dedicated to making our community space a safer place for ALL impacted by this ongoing exposure to grief and loss. Our care is never meant to be exclusionary. As people who do not rely on binaries — this conversation is not binary either.”

While some found the letter and the conversations it catalyzed “alienating,” it was, for Norum-Gross, “a very unifying experience,” demonstrating that “solidarity does make change, and change does, at least, create a conversation.”

In the spring of 2024, several months after the letter was sent, workers at The Center reached out to EWOC, the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, which connected them with CWA.

“CWA felt like the pick from the get-go,” Norum-Gross said. CWA had helped unionize other nonprofits, including The Trevor Project. Plus, The Center’s workers “met with some of their [CWA] representatives and just liked them,” Norum-Gross said. 

“CWA has a lot of resources,” Dinndorf added. “It’s a great union, and I’m really proud to be a part of it.”

As unionizing efforts progressed, worker-organizers started holding weekly meetings to continue building community and “bonding over shared values.”

They also wanted to make sure unionization was what their coworkers truly wanted. 

Initial reactions to unionizing efforts were mixed. Some employees expressed hesitation, or, depending on their position, concern about losing their jobs. “I think people are just sort of activated when they hear the word ‘union,’” Norum-Gross said, “but most people were receptive to at least hearing about it.”

After workers learned more about unionization, “a lot of folks were drawn to the idea of having a seat at the table and creating a contract we can all stand behind,” said Joseph. 

That management recognized the union bodes well for contract negotiations, but changes in pay and working conditions won’t be guaranteed until a first contract is negotiated between Center Workers United’s bargaining team and The Center. 

While Dinndorf declined to state when negotiations will begin, a worker bargaining committee has been elected, and he is excited for negotiations to start, saying “[voluntary recognition] is a really great step.” 

When asked how they might function differently now that The Center has unionized, Norum-Gross responded, “I just imagine a scenario where I have all my needs met [at work] and how much more present I can be in my job.” 

As the Trump administration tramples on queer Americans’ civil rights and demands for crisis counseling continue to rise, The LBGTQ+ Center’s services will only prove more and more critical.  

Despite Trump’s attempts to weaken the National Labor Review Board, similar unionization efforts continue to spring up. Workers at Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, and wellness organization, announced their unionization campaign with Workers United NY/NJ on April 16.

“Decentralizing power in every way is the key to actualizing collective liberation for everyone,” stated Reginald Webber Jr., a worker-organizer at Garden State Equality. 

As Dinndorf said, “Lots of workers are overlooked … but they have incredible stories to tell.”

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