Queens immigration nonprofit lays off staff, angering new union

Immigration nonprofit Make the Road New York is laying off around two dozen employees, who the cuts are in response to recent unionizing efforts. Photo via Queens Borough President Donovan Richards/X

By Ryan Schwach

Unionized workers at the immigration nonprofit Make the Road are speaking out against their employer who is laying them off as the federal government continues its heavy-handed migrant enforcement.

Outgoing employees at Make the Road New York are saying the layoffs – which come just two months after a new contract was signed – are anti-union, and will only diminish resources for New York and Queens’ immigrant communities during a time when they are most needed.

The nonprofit said the layoffs of 22 employees, many of whom work in Queens, are only a cost-cutting measure.

“We're arguing that these layoffs shouldn't be happening,” said Marilyn Mendoza, who was an education justice organizer at the nonprofit before she was included in the layoffs. “We are demanding that our contract be respected.”

On March 27, Mendoza and other employees on the New York branch of the nonprofit received an email that there would be layoffs and cuts to working hours.

Last week, following two months of deliberations, the nonprofit said they would be moving forward with the layoffs, effective at the end of May.

The unionized workers, who belong to a local chapter of the United Auto Workers, are fighting the layoffs, believing they are a direct result of their unionizing efforts and subsequent contract.

“They insinuated that layoffs were going to happen because that's what happens when a contract is signed with the union, then they said it's because of budget cuts,” said Mendoza.

The Make the Road employees began the unionizing process during the pandemic, feeling overworked and underpaid.

“We felt like our voices weren't being heard,” said Mendoza. “We weren't being taken into consideration…We were also just in the moment of uncertainty. So we felt like it was now or never that we had to unionize.”

They signed a new contact in March.

As the nonprofit lays off workers and cuts hours, several of the highest level employees were scheduled to receive raises as part of that contract negotiations, and the organization made inroads including the opening a new 24,000-square-foot community center in Corona in February.

However, Make the Road and union members both told the Eagle that since the layoffs were announced, members of the executive team “have agreed to take salary cuts as a cost-saving measure.”

Executive directors will see a 10 percent cut in their salaries and deputy directors will see a 5 percent cut.

In a statement, Make the Road defended the layoffs and said it hopes to continue to support immigrant communities in Queens and the five boroughs.

"Make the Road New York has made the painful decision to decrease our staff size and implement operational cost saving measures in order to maintain the long-term resilience of the organization and its ability to serve the community for years to come,” the statement read. “We are committed to treating all of Make the Road’s community with dignity and respect. The organization is proud to have negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that was ratified in early January, and is in regular communication with the Union as we implement this decision.”

The organization said that all staff who were laid off received two months notice and were provided with severance and other benefits.

“As our movement faces unprecedented challenges and threats we are committed to preserving the longevity of Make the Road New York so that it can be a force for justice and equality for years to come,” the organization added.

However, that does not seem to satisfy the workers who are being laid off.

“We were very troubled that this current executive team is not looking out for the base of our organization,” said David Haro, an immigration navigator with the non-profit organization who lives in Elmhurst. “That runs contrary to the vision and mission of this organization.”

Haro, who is also being laid off, argued the cuts will harm the immigrant communities MTR helps.

“The immigrant communities are being abandoned,” he said. “They're going to get less immigration services, less English classes, less health services and less organizing as well.”

Just last week, immigration law enforcement detained a Bronx high school student, as well as a pastor with a parish in Queens.

“I look at this crisis as an opportunity to fight back and to provide those services to the community and alleviate the anxiety and the fear that they're subjected to by the Trump administration,” Haro said. “But this organization is mirroring the Trump administration by subjecting staff to the same anxiety, uncertainty and fear that the Trump administration is subjecting immigrants to.”

The layoffs have also displeased local State Senator and mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos, who is the Senate’s Labor Committee chair and strong supporter of Make the Road.

“Make the Road has been a critical force in defending immigrant and working-class New Yorkers, but no organization is above its values,” Ramos said in a statement. “Laying off unionized workers while protecting management salaries is a betrayal of the very communities we claim to fight for. These workers are the backbone of our movement and without them, there is no Make the Road. At a time when Trump and the federal government are attacking our people, we cannot afford to turn on one another. I stand with the union members calling for accountability, transparency, and a swift resolution rooted in justice and care.”