For the past week, Housing Works has been testing a “community-run” business model at what they are calling a “Housing Works Outpost” in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They are running the location by relying on unpaid volunteers, which is allowing Housing Works to not rehire laid-off workers, many of which were part of the Housing Works Union organizing efforts.

 

In this newly branded location, Housing Works is relying on unemployed or underemployed working people to work for free. On Saturday, ralliers will call on Housing Works to rehire their dedicated staff who were laid off when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

 

Several former employees of Housing Works filed Unfair Labor Practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board last Friday, alleging company leadership tried to rid four of their rank-and-file for being outspoken unionizers. Housing Works has been doing everything they can to bust their workers’ union organizing effort. They originally agreed to hold a union election, but then demanded that it be delayed not once, not twice, but three times.