Amy Gladstein

Amy Gladstein is a founding partner of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss and has spent her career advancing the rights of unions and working people. She has litigated a wide range of issues under the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, and other laws protecting workers’ rights to organize and participate in labor organizations. Her advocacy has included representing unions in healthcare, telecommunications, and academia, as well as individual workers across industries.

Ms. Gladstein has been trial counsel in landmark cases that set lasting precedents. She successfully established employers’ obligation to extend COBRA coverage to striking employees, and she served as trial counsel in the groundbreaking case in which the New York State Board of Regents removed nearly the entire Board of Trustees of Adelphi University for breaching their fiduciary duties. These cases helped define workers’ protections under both labor and fiduciary law and continue to influence the field today.

In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Gladstein has played a central role in organizing and collective bargaining. Since 2002, she has directed the new organizing program for 1199 SEIU, one of the nation’s largest and most influential healthcare unions. In this capacity, she has negotiated and enforced numerous election procedure agreements that have allowed thousands of workers to freely and fairly choose union representation. She has also developed and led strategic organizing campaigns that have expanded union membership and strengthened workers’ power in multiple industries.

Ms. Gladstein began her career as a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board’s Region 2, where she gained firsthand experience enforcing federal labor law. Shortly after, she co-founded Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, building a practice dedicated to representing unions and workers. Over her decades of practice, she has served as counsel in cases before federal and state courts, the NLRB, and other agencies, and has been a trusted advisor to countless unions and worker organizations.

She is also an active voice in the broader labor community. Ms. Gladstein has served on the labor committees of both the New York State and New York City Bar Associations, and she has spoken widely at labor conferences and law schools—including Harvard and Yale—on organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, and strategies for protecting workers’ rights. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, further reflecting her commitment to advancing equity and justice.