By Joe Maniscalco

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recorded the deaths of 20 New York City construction workers in 2015 — the same year a 22-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant named Carlos Moncayo was crushed to death helping to erect what is now Restoration Hardware and the RH Rooftop Restaurant on 9th Avenue in NYC’s Meatpacking District.

By Steve Wishnia

On the chilly gray afternoon of Apr. 28, mourners laid red roses and white carnations on a table in Manhattan’s Foley Square, reading the names of workers who died on the job in New York City in the past year.

By Bob Hennelly

Despite decades of progress in worker safety since the creation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1970, there’s troubling evidence of deadly backsliding particularly for the nation’s Black and Latino workers, according to a comprehensive analysis from the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation.

By Bob Hennelly

Courtesy of InsiderNJ

They came from all over New Jersey and reflected the state’s diversity yet all of them shared a desire to protect the public’s safety. As a consequence, they paid the ultimate price for keeping that commitment in the brutal onslaught that was COVID which hit an unprepared nation hard.

By Steve Wishnia

In 1960, when the federal minimum wage was $1 an hour and did not cover workers in nursing homes or construction, the New York State Department of Labor established a regulation that home health-care attendants working 24-hour shifts should only get paid for 13 hours, because they have the other 11 hours off for eating, sleeping, and breaks

By Bob Hennelly

On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we will get an update on the labor situation at Rutgers University from the leadership of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, President Amy Higer and Vice President Bryan Sacks. In the second half of the show, we will visit with documentary filmmaker Kenny Ballentine, whose latest project “Healing Us” captures the devastating consequences on our families from our nation’s for-profit predatory healthcare system.

Work-Bites.com

On this “Your Labor Minute” episode, host Mark Harrison breaks down why the friendly folks at the Federal Reserve want to see more working people unemployed!

By Bob Hennelly

CVS Health has named Brian Kane as the Executive Vice President and President of Aetna, effective September 1. He will report to CVS Health President and CEO Karen S. Lynch. Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed a contract with Aetna as part of the administration’s campaign to strip 250,000 municipal retirees of their traditional Medicare benefits and push them into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage program.

Work-Bites.com

Mark Harrison returns this week to Work-Bites with the latest edition of “Your Labor Minute”, taking a quick look at the Rutgers University strike settlement in New Jersey and what faculty and staff are getting out of the new four-year deal.

By Joe Maniscalco

Labor writer and activist Bill Fletcher Jr was on a bus in Cuba back in 1999 as part of a special delegation to that country which also included actor Danny Glover and author Walter Mosley, when he was inspired to share an idea he had percolating in his head for a murder mystery.

By Bob Hennelly

In the first half of this week’s Tax Day episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we speak with Abigail E. Disney, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, activist, philanthropist, and host of the podcast "All Ears."

By Bob Hennelly

In the second half of this week’s Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we catch up with New York City Council Member Christopher Marte (D-Dist. 1) who confronts the scandal of home health aide being forced to work 24-hour shifts and NYC’s ongoing campaign to strip municipal retirees of their traditional Medicare benefits.

By Work-Bites

On this episode of the Iron Bill Hohlfeld Show, Bill welcomes David Tubiolo from the Westchester County Board of Legislators. During the conversation, the two get to talking about the importance of promoting the unionized Building Trades as a smart alternative to the traditional 4-year college route. The discussion then, however, turns to unscrupulous developers, who Tubiolo says, “use workers who are not of age sometimes.”

By Bob Hennelly

 This week a growing coalition of labor, faith-based, and advocacy non-profits that support seniors, the disabled and New York’s low wealth households will be turning up the pressure on Albany to resist what they say are draconian healthcare budget cuts proposed by Gov. Kathleen Hochul.

By Raanan Geberer

There was a time when getting a “good city job” was good advice. Traditionally, civil service has also provided marginalized populations and individuals with difficulties in their lives with avenues to prosperity they might not have otherwise enjoyed.

By Steve Wishnia

Hundreds of home health-care attendants packed the sidewalk outside City Hall on Apr. 12, demanding that the City Council pass a bill to limit their shifts to 12 hours and end the system of them working 24-hour shifts for 13 hours’ pay.

By Bob Hennelly

While close to a thousand New York City retired civil servants rallied outside City Hall to protest Mayor Adams’ deal with Aetna’s Medicare Advantage Plan, inside it was business as usual. On April 11, the City Council passed several bills including legislation to ban the commercial sale of Guinea pigs which had evidently proliferated during the pandemic.

By Joe Maniscalco

Retired FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles and 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund activist John Feal were outspoken at this week’s massive rally against efforts to strip New York City municipal retirees of their Traditional Medicare benefits and push them into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage program — tearing into both Mayor Eric Adams and the heads of the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] for spearheading the drive. Here’s a sample:

By Joe Maniscalco

The supposedly most progressive New York City Council to date could choose to advance proposed legislation protecting traditional Medicare benefits for municipal retirees — instead it’s watching ailing senior citizens fighting for what they’ve earned collapse on the streets and being out-lefted by the Republican members in its ranks.

By Bob Hennelly

On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we get an update from Marianne Pizzitola, retired FDNY EMT and head of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, and trailblazing FDNY Captain Brenda Beckman who explain why hundreds of New York City retired civil servants will be converging on City Hall at Noon today to protest Mayor Adams forcing them into a privatized Aetna Medicare Advantage program, as well as the the threat the elimination of traditional Medicare poses to 9/11 survivors.