Log in Subscribe
Our top stories

City Council's Brewer wants an end to city hiring restrictions

The chair of the City Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee has called on the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget to loosen restrictions that hamper agencies from filling …
Engineers working the Staten Island Ferry are in line for significant pay increases with some mariners also due a back-pay package of over $1 million, according to a determination by the city …
Read more.
Fire protection inspectors have been at the forefront of the FDNY’s growing battle against fires caused by lithium-ion batteries by responding to calls for potential violations of the fire code, …
Read more.
Outside the David Geffen Hall on Sunday, orchestra musicians who typically perform inside Lincoln Center’s hallowed halls staged an impromptu concert — for a first contract. The freelance …
Read more.
Contrary to city officials’ contentions, giving municipal retirees the option to keep their preferred, premium-free health-care benefits would yield substantial cost-savings for the city, a policy …
Read more.
Other stories we are reporting on
With Medicare contract nearly inked, retirees organization vows suit
The city’s effort to switch its municipal retirees from a traditional, government-run Medicare program to a privately administered Medicare Advantage plan, underway for years, has been beset by …
Vulcans' president seeks more change
At a February ceremony inside Queens Borough Hall, Firefighter Regina Wilson once again took the reins of the Vulcan Society, the 83-year-old fraternal order of Black firefighters, which she led …
Nurses push city, state to invest in staffing FREE
Nurses and their unions are urging the city and state to increase investments in hospitals to help correct a persistent staffing crisis.The New York State Nurses Association demonstrated last week in …
Comptroller spotlights low pay for care workers FREE
Roberta Vogel, a retired counselor who worked at the College of Staten Island for 45 years, is visually impaired and relies on a home health-care worker to assist her with daily tasks.“What would I …
Mending memory at Triangle Factory fire site FREE
Most had come from Romania, Russia, Austria or Italy. Some had been in New York only a few months, even weeks. All toiled inside one of the city’s most notorious sweatshops, on the top three floors …
Starbucks workers stage 1-day walkout
Workers at more than 115 Starbucks locations across the country walked off the job Wednesday to pressure the company to negotiate contracts with the unionized stores. They also called for a halt to …
Council, unions note FDNY vacancies, bloated OT
The FDNY has 483 unfilled firefighter positions and is down more than 30 percent of its dispatchers, leaving the department short-staffed just as the New York’s Bravest are responding to increasing …
Adams signs e-bike battery bills
Following a number of fires caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries that power the increasingly ubiquitous e-bikes and scooters, Mayor Eric Adams signed five bills this week tightening regulations …
Transport unions seek right to strike
Calling the right to strike a crucial mechanism for securing fair contracts, the Transport Workers Union of America and TWU Local 100 have enlisted lawmakers in a bid to amend state law and  …
Schools have lost a quarter of their safety agents
Amid a recent wave of violence near schools, the city Independent Budget Office found that the number of school safety agents has dropped 24 percent since the start of the pandemic.There were about …
Labor Nation

Push in states for $20 minimum wage as inflation persists FREE

Just years after labor activists persuaded a handful of states to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour, workers initially thrilled with the pay bump are finding their hard-won gains erased by …
Labor Perspectives
Letters to the Editor
To the editor: With the indictment of Donald Trump, my health has improved significantly. So far, Alvin Bragg has come through.  Thank you, District Attorney Bragg.  However, with Mayor …
To the editor: Twenty years ago, Al Franken offered a look at the GOP and Fox in a book entitled “Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them.” The book had no impact. Take the gun debate; regardless …
To the editor: What are the costs of war whether by direct military intervention, proxy wa or economic war in the form of sanctions and blockades? Who suffers the most from these wars? Who is held …
To the editor: Donald Trump warned of “death and destruction” if he is indicted for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. It looks likely that Trump will be indicted for misdemeanors or …
To the editor: When I turn 65 in a few months, the New York City Transit Authority has a Medicare Aetna Advantage plan at no cost and even refunds the Part B premium the following year in full. I will …
Op-Eds

Dems should reconsider support of Israel if party wants to keep its soul FREE

If things continue as they have for the last 20 years or so, and particularly in the last five or 10, it may be time (or even past time, I’d argue) for the Democratic Party to declare independence …
Wake-up call

Sneer, you're on surveillance camera! FREE

Got a moment? Look up to the sky and beyond. Imagine the trillions of invisible signals speeding undeterrable from space, knowing exactly which hand-held device on silent mode in someone's pocket …

An essential civil liberty: the right to stay alive FREE

Decriminalize prostitution, maybe. Criminalize psychiatry, definitely. Or at least radically transform it back to its roots. Away from politics and its strangling alliance with Big Pharma, the …

365-day organizing FREE

There has been inspiring growth of support for unions and increased organizing and strikes in the past few years. Despite these signs of progress, little seems to have changed. Workers at Amazon, …
Your money

Deadline help: last-minute tax tips

The tax-filing deadline is just around the corner. According to the Internal Revenue Service, 20 to 25 percent of all Americans wait until the last two weeks before Tax Day (this year extended to …

When will my tax refund arrive?

Are you expecting a refund this year? Here are important items the IRS wants you to know about your refund.● Refund options. You have three options for receiving your federal income-tax refund: …
Work rules by Barbara Smaller