UNIONS AND THE CITY UNIONS AND THE CITY Negotiating Urban Change Edited by Ian Thomas MacDonald ILR PRESS AN IMPRINT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON Copyright © 2017 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2017 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of Amer i ca Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: MacDonald, Ian Thomas, 1980- editor. | Container of (work): MacDonald, Ian Thomas, 1980- Labor strategy and the politics of elite division. Title: Unions and the city : negotiating urban change / edited by Ian Thomas MacDonald. Description: Ithaca : ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016037421 (print) | LCCN 2016045168 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501706547 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501706820 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501712685 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501712692 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Labor unions— New York (State)— New York. | Labor unions— Ontario— Toronto. | Labor movement— New York (State)— New York. | Labor movement— Ontario— Toronto. | Community development, Urban— New York (State)— New York. | Community development, Urban—O ntario— Toronto. | Sociology, Urban— New York (State)— New York. | Sociology, Urban— Ontario— Toronto. Classification: LCC HD6519.N5 U55 2017 (print) | LCC HD6519.N5 (ebook) | DDC 331.8809713/541— dc23 LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016037421 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent pos si ble in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable- based, low- VOC inks and acid- free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine- free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www . cornellpress . cornell . edu. Contents List of Figures vii Acknowl edgments ix List of Acronyms xi Introduction. The Urbanization of Union Strategy and Strugg le Ian Thomas MacDonald 1 Part 1. LABOR AND THE HOSPITABLE CITY Ian Thomas MacDonald 27 1. Labor Strategy and the Politics of Elite Division in Midtown Manhattan Ian Thomas MacDonald 31 2. Or ga nized Labor and Casino Politics in Toronto Steven Tufts 53 Part 2. LABOR AND THE CREATIVE CITY Maria Figueroa, Lois S. Gray, and Thorben Wieditz 75 3. New York Film Production Unions Enter the Pol iti cal Arena in Search of Tax Subsidies Maria Figueroa and Lois S. Gray 79 4. Film Unions’ Strug gle to Defend Studio Space in Toronto Thorben Wieditz 102 Part 3. LABOR AND THE SUSTAINABLE CITY James Nugent 121 5. Building a Green New York: Construction Unions and Community Alliances Maria Figueroa 125 6. Struggling for Good Green Jobs in Toronto’s Deindustrializing Suburbs James Nugent 146 vi CONTENTS Part 4. LABOR AND THE CARING CITY Simon Black 167 7. Creating a City for Workers: Union Strategies on Child Care in New York City Susanna F. Schaller, K. C. Wagner, and Mildred E. Warner 171 8. In Defense of “Gold- Plated” Child Care: Union Strug gles to Preserve Quality Care and Quality Care Work in Toronto Simon Black 189 Conclusion Ian Thomas MacDonald 208 Notes 221 References 227 List of Contributors 243 Index 245 Figures Figure 1.1. Union density across hotel formats in New York, 1985–2013 37 Figure 2.1. Proposed OLG central Ontario locations 61 Figure 2.2. Local 75 casino campaign leaflet 67 Figure 3.1. New York State employment in film and TV production (number of jobs) 92 Figure 3.2. Racial and ethnic composition of the film and TV production workforce, by selected occupation, New York State, 2000 and 2010 97 Figure 3.3. Gender composition of the film and TV production workforce, by selected occupation, New York State, 2000 and 2010 98 Figure 4.1. Toronto’s existing and proposed film studio space 106 vii Acknowl edgments Unions and the City is the result of a collaborative research proje ct, and like all collaborations, ours has called on the generosity, assistance, and goodwill of many people. I would like to thank my coauthors for placing their confidence in the proj ect, as well as for their openness in working as a team. I would like to thank Lois Gray in part ic ul ar for encouraging the proje ct when it was just a notion, and for seeing it through to a successful finale. A book such as this— presenting the work of academics and labor researchers that is grounded in the experiences of local labor activists and leaders— could not have been written without the insti- tutional support of a place like the Cornell Worker Institute in New York City. Neither would the proj ect have been pos si ble without the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the guidance of Luc Lebrun. Additional funding was provided by the Centre de recherche inter- universitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail (CRIMT) at the Université de Montréal. The proj ect was housed at the CITY Institute at York University, To- ronto, where Roger Keil, Sara Macdonald, and Adam Charnaw graciously over- saw its administration. On behalf of my co-a uthors I would like to thank the labor activists and leaders in Toronto and New York who agreed to participate in our research. For my understanding of local labor and New York City politics, I owe a large debt to my students at the Murphy Institute, the Brooklyn College Center for Worker Education, and the City College Center for Worker Education. Our sem- inar discussions have found their way into this volume uncited. Previous versions of the chapters were presented at the meetings of the Labor and Employment Research Association (LERA), the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies (CAWLS), the United Association for Labor Education (UALE), CRIMT, and the American Association of Geographers (AAG). The manuscript was sub- stantially improved by the suggestions of the anonymous reviewers as well as the sound and supportive advice of Frances Benson and Gregor Murray. I would like to thank the copyeditors, Guillaume Plourde, Lee Kuhnle, and my parents, Les and Gwen, for their assistance in preparing the manuscript, and my partner, Lou, for love and encouragement throughout. ix