NYLAG Workers Defy Palestine Censorship, Fight for Free Speech

By Jonathan Bash

NYLAG workers pose with keffiyehs and Palestinian flags in their office - October, 2024

On September 17, 2024, NYLAG workers held a lunchtime picket outside 100 Pearl Street to protest NYLAG management’s censorship of pro-Palestine speech and its unlawful threats to discipline NYLAG workers. Over a hundred workers gathered on the sidewalk outside their office, holding keffiyehs, Palestinian flags, and posters with messages like “Stand up against NYLAG’s racist censorship.”

Organized by A Better NYLAG (ABN), the ALAA chapter representing NYLAG’s staff, the picket sent a clear message: workers would not be silenced.

Repression Breeds Resistance

Management’s crackdown began in November 2023, when NYLAG President & CEO Lisa Rivera pressured union members to vote against a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation, and support for workers’ political speech. Despite the interference, the resolution passed with a supermajority.

In the months that followed, management escalated its repression. Workers were ordered to remove pro-Palestine posters, and on May 20, 2024, NYLAG General Counsel Randal Jeffrey announced a full ban on materials related to the "Israel/Gaza conflict."

Workers fought back. Many began putting up posters of watermelons, a well-known symbol of Palestinian resistance. Jeffrey emailed staff individually, demanding they take them down. In response, an organized group of over fifty workers put up new posters reading “NYLAG Silences Workers.”

On July 9, 2024, Jeffrey escalated further, ordering all “offensive materials” to be removed by the next day—a clear violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which protects workers’ right to protest working conditions.

Workers responded collectively. Dozens emailed Jeffrey directly: "I will not be taking down my ‘NYLAG Silences Workers’ poster. This request is unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act. Further, I am announcing my intention to replace this poster if it is removed without my consent."

They also filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board, which is pending.

Over the next few months, Jeffrey personally raided workers’ cubicles, removing posters, flags, and even a plushie watermelon from members’ work spaces—sometimes on a weekly basis. Each time, workers put them right back up.

On August 20, 2024, ABN invited management to a union-led town hall to discuss the impact of the poster ban. Management refused to attend. Four chairs sat empty at the front of the room, a stark visual of leadership’s unwillingness to engage.

But over 100 workers showed up, many sharing personal stories about why they opposed the censorship. Paralegal Navruz Baum put it plainly: “we may sell our labor to NYLAG, but that doesn’t mean they get to control how we think or how we express ourselves.”

Management Doubles Down, Workers Push Back

At the September 17 picket, workers spoke out not only against NYLAG’s ban on speech and unlawful interference with collective action but also against its failure to take a stand against genocide. NYLAG brands itself as an organization that “combats economic, racial, and social injustice,” yet when it comes to Israel’s documented oppression of Palestinians, management demands silence.

NYLAG justifies its censorship in the name of "safety," but workers see it differently. As one worker told The Chief Leader on the picket line, “if anyone makes me feel unsafe at NYLAG, it’s Randal Jeffrey.”

After the picket, management kept removing posters, and workers kept putting them back up. Over time, workers developed coordinated strategies to replace posters almost instantly, ensuring that every removal was met with immediate restoration.

On February 10, 2025, management escalated again. Workers were given a choice: remove the posters or face mandatory counseling sessions on how they were “undermining our organizational values.”

The response was swift. Workers flooded management’s inboxes with a mass reply-all, announcing their refusal to submit to management’s “counseling” and reaffirming their commitment to keeping the posters up.

The Fight Continues

For over a year, NYLAG management has tried—and failed—to suppress any symbol of Palestinian solidarity and any protest against its own unlawful actions. They’ve threatened discipline, broken labor law, invaded workers’ personal space, and attempted to intimidate and divide. But the workers haven’t backed down.

As of publishing, the recognizable “NYLAG Silences Workers” watermelon posters remain up throughout NYLAG offices.

Now, with contract bargaining underway, ABN has proposed a free speech clause to enshrine workers’ right to political expression. Management has so far failed to accept it. But if the past year and a half is any indication, workers have no plans to give up.