CWA 1180 - Who We Are

Who we are, what we do and why it matters

The first union of New York City supervisory and administrative employees, called the Municipal Management Society (MMS), was formed in 1954, but it did not have collective bargaining rights. In the early 1960s, when public sector organizing exploded and other city workers around them were making significant gains through collective bargaining, MMS members decided that they, too, needed to be able to negotiate collectively in order to advance their interests. They set to work to sign up the necessary majority of workers. Then in 1965, they voted to join the Communications Workers of America—and Local 1180 was born. With CWA's help, they overcame the last legal obstacles to obtaining a bargaining certificate, which they did in 1966. In 1967, Local 1180 signed its first contract with the City of New York.

Local 1180 was CWA's first public sector local. Today, it remains one of the largest public sector locals in the union, which now represents tens of thousands of state and local workers throughout the country. Local 1180 has 7,000 members. About 80 percent of our members are women, and the majority are people of color, predominantly African Americans.

Most Local 1180 members work for the City of New York. As administrative and supervisory workers, we process payrolls, manage computer systems, monitor contracts, pay vendors, supervise frontline staff, and in general, coordinate a whole host of things no one realizes need coordination. We are the hidden human infrastructure that makes the city work. As one 1180 member at the Board of Education put it: “We may not be the heart and soul of education, but administrative people are the arms and legs of the body. Without us, it wouldn't work.”

Since its founding in 1965, Local 1180 has expanded its membership. We now represent administrative workers not just in the city, but in the state courts and at a number of quasi-public authorities and non-profit organizations. The union is actively seeking to organize more workers in these sectors.

As a union, much of our day-to-day work consists in negotiating contracts and protecting our members' rights. We help members and stewards solve workplace problems and file grievances, and we fight for the integrity of the civil service system to guard against patronage and corruption and to guarantee fair promotional opportunities for workers. As part of that effort, the union is deeply involved in the Municipal Labor Coalition, a coalition of all the unions representing New York City workers.

Local 1180 is also very active in community and political affairs. Our interests and concerns as workers don't end on the shop floor, and so our work as a union doesn't either. Whether it's lobbying in Albany for better healthcare or protesting police brutality on the streets in New York, Local 1180 has a well-deserved reputation for building union-community ties. We are active in the Working Families Party and the Labor Party as well as the Democratic Party. We are committed to progressive political and economic policies, and are not shy about staking out controversial positions.

Local 1180 is firmly committed to internal democracy. Our processes are open, our Executive Board minutes are published, our elections are supervised by an outside agency, and we welcome debate at our meetings, in our publications, and on our website.

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