NLRB Reverts to General Motors Standard; New York home care workers push for huge union vote; maritime deck officers still waiting for contracts

# What changed at the NLRB

# The New York home care organizing drive

1199SEIU filed for a union election covering nearly 190,000 home care workers who provide services through New York's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). The union reports more than 70,000 signed authorization cards.

This organizing campaign followed New York's consolidation of CDPAP administration under a single fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), which took over in April 2025. Since that administrative change, workers reported missed or inaccurate pay and other administrative problems. PPL has agreed to a proposed $162 million wage-and-hour settlement covering roughly 200,000 personal assistants.

If certified, this would be among the largest union elections in U.S. history by number of eligible workers. The filing signals an attempt to translate widespread payroll and administrative issues into a formal bargaining relationship.

# Maritime deck officers still waiting for contracts

Licensed deck officers at Alaska Tanker Company (ATC) and Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) voted for representation by the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P) in 2024, with the union winning 80% of the vote at ATC and 70% at OSG in NLRB-certified elections.

The NLRB ruled this year that both companies unlawfully refused to recognize and bargain with MM&P, finding violations of Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) of the NLRA. The companies countered by challenging the composition of the bargaining units, including whether chief mates qualify as statutory supervisors. These company challenges moved into federal appellate review.

Because the unit-composition disputes are pending, bargaining has been delayed for more than two years since the representation votes. MM&P officials warn that prolonged legal delay could erode workers' confidence in the organizing outcome, even as officers report remaining united.

# Why these developments matter

Elastomers changes the enforcement balance in labor disputes involving heated workplace conduct. Employers will have a clearer legal path to discipline offensive behavior that occurs alongside protected activity, while unions face a narrower scope of protection for members who engage in abusive conduct during collective actions.

In New York, the CDPAP election filing ties large-scale back-office and payroll failures to an organizing push that could reshape labor relations for home care providers who are paid through Medicaid-funded consumer-directed programs.

For maritime officers, the disputes show how legal challenges over unit composition and supervisory status can delay contract outcomes even after decisive employee votes for representation. Those procedural fights can have real effects on workers' access to negotiated wages, benefits, and working rules.

# Concrete developments to watch next

• Federal appellate rulings in the ATC and OSG cases that will determine if bargaining units stand as certified or must be recalibrated based on supervisory status questions.