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SkyHop strike hits six months

Many workers at the airport transport company SkyHop Global thought that walking out on strike just before Thanksgiving – the start of the busiest season for the company – would be enough to convince management to agree to a first union contract....

FDNY EMT car-crash survivor to get union salute

On Sept. 15, 2023, Ashley Diaz found herself inside an ambulance.   An FDNY EMT of five years who treated New Yorkers across South Brooklyn and Staten Island, the back of an ambulance wasn’t an unfamiliar place for the young mother to be....
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man was convicted Monday of fatally stabbing a longtime emergency services officer in a 2022 unprovoked attack that took place steps away from her station in Queens. The victim, Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, 61,...
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The New York State Nurses Association slammed a decision by NewYork-Presbyterian to cut 2 percent of its workforce, which would result in about 1,000 healthcare workers losing their jobs. The health system, which operates 10 facilities across the...
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Three correction officers working at Rikers Island scammed doctors, clinicians and state officials to scheme the city of nearly $1 million in workers’ comp claims by faking injuries they attributed to violent confrontations with inmates at the...
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Human service workers would need to earn $20,000 more a year in order to earn a living wage, according to a recent report. The number of New Yorkers working in the human services industry has nearly doubled since the year 2000. The percentage of...
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In what likely were final arguments in the years-long battle over whether the city is obligated to provide its 250,000 municipal retirees with no-cost Medicare and supplemental insurance, attorneys for both sides presented their cases before the...
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Unions representing FDNY firefighters and fire officers endorsed Former Governor Andrew Cuomo for Mayor on Tuesday, following in the footsteps of two unions representing members of FDNY EMS. Leadership of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and...
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Nearly a dozen unions across the state sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul this week calling on state legislators to pass a pair of bills that would reduce sentences for prisoners and help formerly incarcerated people enter the...
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Workers at Sesame Workshop voted 55-19 to join Local 153 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union on Thursday, capping off a union campaign marred by layoffs and allegations of union busting. In the weeks leading up to the...
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A second former chief in the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention has been sentenced to prison for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for expediting building inspections, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. Anthony...
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Other stories we are reporting on
Dozens of retired educators raking in $300K pensions
More than two dozen New York retired educators collected over $300,000 in pension benefits last year, according to data compiled by the Empire Center. The independent think-tank analyzed data reported by the two teacher pension systems, the...
Vineyards in NY wine country push sustainability
A decade ago, Scott Osborn would have eagerly told prospective vineyard owners looking to join the wine industry to "jump into it." Now, his message is different. "You're crazy," said Osborn, who owns Fox Run Vineyards, a sprawling 50-acre farm...
NY offshore wind project resumes after Trump administration lifts pause
Union leaders were elated following the lifting of a stop-work order imposed last month by the Trump administration on the Empire Wind project, the wind farm off the southwest coast of Long Island. The project had generated more than 1,000 union...
NJ Transit train engineers reach tentative deal to end strike FREE
New Jersey Transit's train engineers reached a tentative deal Sunday to end their three-day strike that had halted service for some 100,000 daily riders, including routes to Newark airport and across the Hudson River to New York City. The union...
NJ Transit train engineers strike, stranding 350,000 FREE
New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike early Friday, leaving an estimated 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home. The walkout comes after the latest...
Learning on The Job: cops contend with a changed law-enforcement landscape
Record numbers of retirements and departures, recruitment issues, calls to defund, lingering questions about justice, enforcement.  Police departments nationwide have contended with those issues since the killing of George Floyd by...
Overall crime down for 7th straight month: NYPD
Overall crime citywide dropped for the seventh straight month in April, contributing to a roughly 8-percent drop in index crimes through the first four months of the year compared with 2024, according to NYPD data.  So-called “index crimes”...
Jewish group files federal complaint against lawyers union FREE
A union representing lawyers, paralegals and other workers at legal organizations in New York is the target of a new federal complaint alleging the union failed in its duty to represent Jewish members. But members of the union at the New York...
Citing 'unprecedented' violence, judge strips city of full authority over Rikers
New York City will no longer fully control its jail system, including the long-troubled Rikers Island complex, after a federal judge found the city had failed to stem spiraling dysfunction and brutality against those in custody. Instead, U.S....
NLRB alleges bad-faith bargaining from nonprofit shelter FREE
The National Labor Relations Board has filed a petition in a federal court seeking an injunction in which it alleged that the non-profit Covenant House New York has refused to bargain in good faith with employees who unionized nearly three years...
Labor Perspectives
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:  With regard to “FDNY seeking to 'integrate' firefighting and EMS corps” (The Chief, May 16), I find it ironic that it came out around the same time as time as an EMS Week poster in which the paramedics depicted seem to be...
To the editor: There were moments at the Court of Appeals hearing on forcing retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan that raised eyebrows and raised hopes (The Chief, “City retirees await state high court decision on Medicare matter,” this...
To the editor: Those who equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism are wrong. The Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas was horrendous. But nothing justifies Israel’s genocidal response in Gaza.  Indiscriminate carpet bombing has...
To the editor: Will FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker accomplish what  previous commissioners have not?  Specifically, will he integrate both of FDNY "first responder" services, its certified emergency medical personnel and its...
To the editor: Chris Rock put it perfectly when he said, in language that I will clean up here, that he was not a liberal or a conservative because that means you have made up your mind before you hear the issue. Leonard Peltier, who finally had...
Op-Eds
Wake-up call

'With spite and relish'

My friend's parents' German citizenship, like that of all Jews, was stolen by the Nazis through their "Nuremberg Laws.” Being stripped of nationhood was an early step towards total dehumanization. Although my friend had no interest in setting foot...

Asserting control at Rikers Island jails is imperative FREE

Mark Bullaro is a retired NYC DOC assistant deputy warden. President Harry Truman espoused the motto “The buck stops here,” indicating it was he who was ultimately responsible for his decisions and the outcomes. He displayed those words on his...

Built on safety: The lifesaving legacy of New York’s scaffold law FREE

Mark I. Partnow, a former justice of the Kings County Supreme Court, and Sagar Chadha are senior partners at Liakas Law, a family-run and community-based law firm. The year was 1885. Brooklyn was still its own city, American industry was booming,...
Your money
Tax Strategies

Maximizing medical expense deductions FREE

If you itemize your deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A, you may be able to deduct expenses you paid in 2024 for medical and dental care for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. Here are some facts the IRS wants you to know about medical...
Tax strategies

Your first job: tax tips for teens FREE

As school winds down, many students will hit the job market for summer employment. The Internal Revenue Service reminds students that not all the money you earn may make it into your pocket. That’s because your employer must withhold taxes. Here...
Tax strategies

What to do if you get an IRS notice FREE

Each year, the Internal Revenue Service sends millions of letters and notices to taxpayers for a variety of reasons. Although some people may feel anxious when they receive one, many are easy to resolve. Here are items to know about IRS notices,...
Work rules by Barbara Smaller

Labor Nation
As another school year ends, superintendents across the United States are staring down an autumn staffing crisis, with 1 in 8 teaching positions either vacant or filled by an underqualified educator. States that are struggling with post-pandemic...
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New Jersey’s health benefits plan for local public workers, harried by years of sharp premium increases and a dwindling subscriber pool, has become “structurally unstable” and “financially unsustainable,” the Treasury said in a report released...
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