Around 20 years ago, when a public school principalship first became an entry-level position under New York City's then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I recall being present at the time clock and …

"Double double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” East Palestine, Ohio, site of the toxic hell triggered by the train derailment and human malfeasance, is channeling Shakespeare's …

No matter how or when the horrific war in Ukraine ends, one thing is certain: the working class will lose. Before 2022, foreign creditors and Ukrainian elites were already attempting to gut labor …

What is the fair market value of the Constitution? Nothing, if it can be bent, folded, stretched or otherwise re-invented to accommodate the designs of powerful people and institutions. Unless …

It seems that every weekend is another occasion for shootings, stabbings, a person pushed down a flight of steps, another onto subway tracks. Mayor Eric Adams wants us to believe that statistics show …

Is the value of workers' productivity greater in their employers' eyes if the labor was achieved while the workers were needlessly inconvenienced? Does it detract from workers' high standard of …

I have been a gig worker for almost two decades.You might be wondering how a professor could be a gig worker. After all, isn’t a gig worker someone who is employed through an app?Yes and no.Because …

The National Labor Relations Board recently expanded and strengthened the penalties on employers who illegally demote or terminate employees for their union activity. The trick is, of course, in the …

Labor unions are the main reason that deaths in workplaces have been reduced. They are the reason that safety precautions exist and are enforced at all, though far from universally. Every workplace …

If you are wondering what kind of union you belong to, longtime labor lawyer Joe Burns has some pointers in his new book, “Class Struggle Unionism.”You may be in what he calls a business union if …

After trying to wrest a gun and deflecting the bullet trajectory away from her classroom of kids, a kindergarten teacher in Virginia was shot in the chest and nearly killed two weeks ago. Her first …

Has management claimed the right to make decisions about staffing and scheduling, what and how to produce, and other issues without input from the union? Did your union tell you it is powerless to …

Looking at the two major parties, I wonder if the Republicans’ function is to be so horrible that they make awful Democrats look good. This serves the purpose of America's multi-billionaire class, …

A year ago, Louis Molina came to the New York City Department of Correction as the commissioner and friend of the correction unions. In published letters to The Chief, I celebrated Molina’s …

Remember that historic photo, one of the most popular postcard keepsakes for tourists, of the laborers snacking on a narrow girder suspended high in the air, seemingly above the clouds, during the …

Try as you might, it is nearly impossible to hear a politician of either major party talk about the working class. They all seem to prefer the term “middle class.” While Democrats are especially …

After 15 ballots and near fisticuffs on the floor of the House, Deli Man Kevin McCarthy won the Speakership. His “win,” such as it was, didn’t come without cost or consequence for his party or …

About midway through Monday’s City Council hearing on Mayor Eric Adams’s demand that a Medicare Advantage plan become the only no-premium healthcare option for municipal retirees, Council Member …

Dear Council Speaker Adrienne Adams,In recent emails with your office I was told that you were looking forward to listening to the debate about whether or not to amend Administrative Code 12-126, …

Which is easier to figure out: the reason that pigeons are incapable of walking without bobbing their heads, or ingenious and devious ways that employers will devise to circumvent and weasel out of …

The New York State legislature, in order to demonstrate to the commonplace citizenry that despite being special, they too are ordinary people equipped with the routine human vices of greed, envy and …

One of the nice things about being born on January 8th, besides sharing the day with David Bowie and Elvis, is that I get to celebrate several holidays at this time of year.

Although my union proudly calls itself a “member led union,” it is extremely undemocratic in several ways.We do not have “one member, one vote” for the leadership. This means a new caucus …

Almost twice on average each month this year, a Rikers Island detainee has died by suicide or under mysterious circumstances that are sometimes suggestive of official neglect, avoidable accident or …

During the six years I lived in the Netherlands I learned that every worker, whether working in a service or professional job, had four weeks of paid vacation and a 36-hour workweek. If they worked …