EDNY Grants Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Expanded NY State Labor Relations Act

As previously reported, amendments to the New York State Labor Relations Act (“NYSLRA”) in September expanded the law’s applicability to private sector employees who were previously explicitly excluded from the NYSLRA and have historically been subject to the federal National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and the oversight of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) rather than state law. In essence, the amendments sought to expand the jurisdiction of the NYS Public Employee Relations Board (“PERB”) to cover these private sector employees. The amendments immediately faced separate legal challenges from both the NLRB and Amazon. In the Amazon case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (“EDNY”) has now granted a preliminary injunction enjoining PERB from enforcing the amendments.

Days after the amendments went into effect, a union that represents Amazon workers filed an unfair labor practice charge with PERB; Amazon almost immediately filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the amendments. In its order granting the preliminary injunction, the court found that Amazon was likely to succeed (a crucial component for the grant of any preliminary injunction) on its claim that the NYSLRA amendments are preempted by the NLRA. The state unsuccessfully argued that unique circumstances – specifically the lack of a quorum at the NLRB and the perceived threat to NLRB members’ for-cause removal protection – justified an exception to preemption here. The court rejected this argument, finding that there is no such exception under US Supreme Court preemption precedent. The court also found that the other elements required to grant the preliminary injunction (i.e., the likelihood of irreparable harm, a balancing of equities, and the public interest) had been satisfied. 

The NLRB has brought a similar challenge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. The court in that case granted an administrative stay (or pause) of any matters brought before PERB that may implicate the NLRB’s jurisdiction.

A number of states (California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey) have proposed or enacted similar legislation, which will likely face similar legal challenges. And while the NLRB still lacks a quorum, that may soon change - on December 4th, 2025, Senate Majority Leader Thune submitted an Executive Resolution authorizing en bloc consideration of 97 nominations, including two nominations for Board members, which would restore the Board to a quorum for the first time since January. The Executive Resolution also includes a nomination for the General Counsel of the NLRB. The Senate is expected to vote on the nominations this week.

We will continue to monitor these cases and any developments at the NLRB. Employers with questions about the NYSLRA, the NLRB’s lawsuit, or unionization and employee labor organization efforts in general, should contact Kate Townley at ktownley@fglawllc.com or any other attorney at the Firm.  

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