The Taylor Law Can be Defeated

Passing resolutions and lobbying Albany is not enough. If we want to take back the right to strike, we will have to use it.

[VIDEO] The Taylor Law: 5 Things You Need to Know and What It Means for Labor

In New York State, the no-strike clause of the Taylor Law exists to make striking and work stoppages illegal for public sector workers. Teachers, nurses, postal workers, trash collectors and transit workers have been challenging these restrictions for the past 50 years.

New York Nurses Resolve to Fight for Public Employees’ Right to Strike

On Saturday, nurses voted overwhelmingly in favor of repealing Section 210 of the Taylor Law and fighting for public workers’ right to strike.

What is the Taylor Law?

The Taylor Law is perhaps best known for its no-strike clause. It is thrown around at union meetings in an attempt to strike fear into the heart of the rank and file. But what exactly is the Taylor Law? How does it work? This second article in a three-part series describes and explains the law itself. The next and last article will analyze several incidents in which the Taylor Law was challenged the outcomes of these challenges.

The Origins of New York’s No Strike Clause

The Taylor Law bars public sector workers from going on strike. From a Marxist perspective, what do strikes mean? And how did this draconian law come about to begin with? This is the first of two articles about the Taylor Law.