Listen: Discrimination Inside the FDNY; NYSNA Looks For Another Contract Win

Vulcan Society President Regina Wilson joins NYSNA President Nancy Hagans as a guest on this week’s edition of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour. Photo courtesy of the FDNY

By Bob Hennelly

On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour FDNY firefighter Regina Wilson — president of the Vulcan Society, the fraternal organization that represents Black firefighters, EMS, fire inspectors and civilian employees —discusses what’s been accomplished and what’s left to do after the City of New York 2014 settlement of a federal racial discrimination lawsuit.

Wilson describes the  ongoing challenges linked to advancing gender and racial inclusion in the ranks as well as within the management structure of the mostly white male paramilitary organization. She offers insights into the ongoing controversy surrounding Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh’s decision to demote three of the FDNY’s most senior officers back to field assignments. Wilson also makes a recruiting pitch and suggests the city raise the age limit that’s currently set at 29.

In the second part of the show, RN Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association, blasts state health officials for rolling back the mask mandate in healthcare settings.

Hagans then pivots and lays out NYSNA’s landmark win following the recent strike against Montefiore and Mt. Sinai Hospitals, which included a 19.1% pay hike, healthcare coverage protections, as well as nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.

Hagans says the union is now focusing on getting a new contract for its 9,000 members who work for the city’s H+H municipal hospital system who make close to $20,000 less then their colleagues who work for the private non-profits. She describes how the city’s public hospitals are turning to traveling nurses that they hire at a premium as a  very expensive “Band-Aid.”

She also renews her call for passage of the single payer New York Health Act, observing that it was the nation’s for-profit healthcare system that contributed to the heavy death toll in communities of color where healthcare access lagged.