Listen: NYC Fire Safety, The Child Day Care Center Crisis, And More

By Bob Hennelly

Here’s a quick look at this week’s Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour - listen to the entire show below!

Part 1: Preventing the Worst-Case Scenario and Why Outsourcing Fire Code Compliance is a Really Bad Idea: I interview veteran FDNY Fire Inspectors Mike Reardon and Darryl Chalmers, executive board members of DC 37 Local 2507 which represents EMTs, Paramedics and Fire Inspectors. Reardon and Chalmers explain their role in protecting firefighters and the community by ensuring fire code compliance citywide. They discuss last week’s FDNY rescue of 18 small children from a fire at an illegal daycare center co-located in a basement with a dental lab as well as last year’s Twin Parks apartment fire that left 17 people dead. Reardon and Chalmers also explain the serious fire hazard that improperly stored lithium-ion batteries used to power delivery bikes can pose.

Part 2: A Call to Action-Addressing NYC’s Child Day Care Crisis and Paid Sick Time for Gig Workers: Brooklyn Council Shahana Hanif, who represents Brooklyn’s 39th district, calls for the City of New York to implement universal pre-K education and pay what it owes community-based childcare centers that thousands of families rely on. Hanif discusses bill Intro 617 that mandates employers provide paid sick days for essential gig workers who work in the delivery, construction, and personal care sectors. Other topics covered include Hanif’s rationale for supporting the retired municipal civil servant’s opposition to the imposition of Medicare Advantage by the Adams administration and why she supports the New York Health Act single payer legislation.