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Council staff union working to ward off layoffs during reorganization

Staff at the City Council, wary of potential retaliatory layoffs early next year, are attempting to preempt their bosses by calling on council members not to cut staff at the beginning of a new term ...

City workers and retirees sue to block switch to self-funded health plan

A group of New York City employees and retirees has gone to court to block the Adams administration from moving hundreds of thousands of municipal workers into a self-funded health plan.  The petitioners claim that instituting the plan would...

Daily News Union reaches tentative deal with owners

The owners of the New York Daily News have been engaging in “predatory practices” and have been “threatening the future of local news in New York City.” That’s according to a resolution passed in the City Council on Wednesday that condemned Alden...

Paramedic Salih Abdur Rahman dies after shift at training center FREE

FDNY paramedic Salih Abdur Rahman died Wednesday Oct. 29 just after finishing his shift at the FDNY’s training academy on Randall’s Island, the department announced Thursday evening. A Marine veteran, Abdur Rahman first joined the FDNY in 2002 and...

City on pace for record-low number of shootings FREE

The city recorded the fewest shootings and murders in its modern history through the first 10 months of the year, according to figures released Monday by the NYPD. The department said both the city and its transit system also saw record-low crime...

‘Unsustainable strain’: NYPD’s 911 operators forced into 16-hour shifts FREE

Emergency call operators are being pushed to work 16-hour shifts three days in a row every week to compensate for “chronic understaffing.” That’s what Tabitha Sheppard, the president of a union representing police communication technicians in the...

Kickstarter strike over four-day workweek ongoing

Dozens of employees at the creator fundraising website Kickstarter have been on strike for more than two weeks, threatening the crowdfunding website’s ability to host the artists and creators that rely on it. The nearly 60 U.S-based unionized...
Other stories we are reporting on
Little logic behind Lyft, Uber driver deactivations, report finds
Uber and Lyft drivers working the five boroughs are being kicked off their apps without notice, without due process and without recourse, according to a recent survey of nearly 350 rideshare drivers who were deactivated from their platforms....
More women are joining New York’s construction workforce 
Even as builders across New York scramble to fill open jobs, one group is making quiet but steady inroads: women. Once nearly absent from the state’s construction sites and offices, women now make up about 9 percent of New York State’s...
Trump's immigration crackdown weighs heavy on the labor market FREE
Maria worked cleaning schools in Florida for $13 an hour. Every two weeks, she'd get a $900 paycheck from her employer, a contractor. Not much — but enough to cover rent in the house that she and her 11-year-old son share with five families, plus...
Air traffic controllers go without pay during shutdown FREE
Air traffic controllers missed their paychecks Tuesday because of the ongoing government shutdown, raising concerns that mounting financial stress could take a toll on the already understaffed employees who guide thousands of flights each...
Pay for Trump and Congress continues in shutdown FREE
Some members of Congress are asking for their salaries to be withheld during the government shutdown, while federal workers last Friday missed their first full paycheck since many operations closed on Oct. 1. With no movement toward a deal to end...
‘Activist’ building superintendent looks to unseat Council incumbent
Starting early mornings, Dominick Romeo emerges from his basement apartment on West 18th Street, and sweeps and hoses a section of sidewalk. Back inside, he straightens out the garbage area. Then it’s on to the building’s lobby, where he vacuums,...
Broadway strike likely averted
A shutdown of Broadway theaters was averted last week when the union representing musicians in the theater district reached a deal on a tentative agreement for a new contract hours before the union had pledged to walk out on strike. Local 802 of...
‘Patients over profits’: NYSNA rallies for fair wages, better services
With their contracts at a dozen private-sector hospitals across the city expiring at the end of the year, about 20,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association are demanding new agreements that would bring them higher wages but also...
NJ teacher workforce stable, but pipeline still thin, report finds FREE
New Jersey’s teacher workforce remained roughly level in the 2023-2024 school year, but retirements remained elevated above prepandemic levels, according to a Rutgers University report released last week. Though the number of teachers in New...
Shutdown impact: What it means for workers, federal programs and the economy FREE
The federal government shutdown is quickly approaching the second longest on record with no end in sight. Some lawmakers are predicting it could become the longest, surpassing the 35 days from President Donald Trump's first term. The Trump...
Labor Perspectives
Letters to the Editor
There has been a common thread running through the twists and turns on the road to change the health benefits plans of active city workers and retirees. That constant is the lack of transparency. The Office of Labor Relations doesn’t reveal the identities or affiliations of their Evaluating Committee ...
In November 1945 the first Nuremberg trial began. Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the chief prosecutor for the U.S., described the crimes of the surviving Nazi leadership as “so malignant, and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored...
To the editor: Ron Isaac's "All's well that ends well — mostly" (The Chief, Commentary, Oct. 17) is a fine work once you read past paragraphs one through five and seven. I suspect that the theory of William Shakespeare not having written the...
To the editor: The author of "The Hateful Old Party" (The Chief, Letters, Oct. 31) responded online to "Taking Exception" (Letters, Oct. 31) and "Deal Out The Race Card" (Letters, March 21) Just as the author apologized online to me a while...
To the editor: Ask a teacher or city worker if they want their union/employer to pay for-profit insurance companies to administer their health benefits, or if they want wages that exceed inflation. They can't have both.  The New York Health...
Op-Eds

The struggle for meaning amid DOC’s absurdity FREE

Marc Bullaro is a retired NYC Department of Correction assistant deputy warden — In my quest to speak truth to power regarding the misguided and flawed methods implemented to correct the dysfunction and chaos in the Department of Correction ...
Wake-up call

Knockoffs and retting rackets FREE

The unnerving footage of federal agents in combat gear loaded with accessories associated with cracking heads and securing instant unequivocal submission looked like a newsreel from 1930s Europe ...
Community Op-Ed

School safety saves lives  FREE

I’ve always said that public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity in our city and it has always been our administration’s North Star. We strive to ensure that all New Yorkers feel safe in their homes, on the streets, and in other public spaces...

Tech workers' fight for living wages and a 32-hour workweek is a battle for all FREE

Joan Wright is a rank-and-file member of Kickstarter United and a member of her union’s contract action team. Militant labor action and strong picket lines that shut down business profits have always been the most powerful tool working...
Your money
Tax strategies

Strengthen your tax and financial accounts FREE

The IRS and the New York Department of Taxation and Finance remind taxpayers to be vigilant against scammers and identity thieves. Be wary of aggressive phone scams. Remember, the IRS and New York Tax Department will contact you by mail first and...
Tax strategies

New tax law updates tip deduction FREE

The tax and spending bill enacted earlier this year by President Trump includes new provisions regarding tips, primarily as a federal income tax deduction for tipped workers. Key aspects for tipped workers: • Tip Deduction: The law creates a...
Tax strategies

Miscellaneous items in ‘OBBBA’ tax law FREE

A new law that forms part of the tax and spending bill enacted earlier this year introduces numerous changes to the U.S. tax code. Here’s a breakdown of some key contributions: • Estate Tax Exemption: Scheduled to come down to $7,000 per person...
Work rules by Barbara Smaller

Labor Nation
Americans are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to find a good job under President Donald Trump, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last month in what is a potential warning sign for...
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