The Hottest Fires Forge the Hardest Steel: Fighting NJ Nurses Win Big Gains
By Bob Hennelly
Earlier this month, rank and file members of HPAE—New Jersey’s largest nurses’ union working at three different hospital systems—voted to authorize strikes if they didn’t get provisions in their contracts guaranteeing safer staffing ratios.
Listen: Fallout from NJ Powerbroker’s Indictment—And More!
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we have news about News Guild CWA journalists at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle who had been on strike against Gannett for 19 days, ratifying their contract containing a 15 percent raise over the next two years, which will translate to a $10,000 to $20,000 raise for several of the lowest paid and longest serving members of the bargaining unit.
Phil Cohen War Stories: ‘There’s Always Action in Jamaica’
Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of Phil’s three-part saga about his days driving an illegal taxi [otherwise known as a “gypsy cab”] on the streets of New York City back in the late 1960s when he was still just a teen.
By Phil Cohen
The Lower East Side began at 3rd Avenue and 14th Street, becoming progressively more dangerous as it approached the East River. Once you hit Alphabet City the transition accelerated. Avenue D bordered the river.
Listen: Confronting the Scourge of Poverty-Stricken Kids Living On a Melting Planet
By Bob Hennelly
On this week’s edition of the Moral Monday Labor Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. William Barber & Bob Hennelly, we’re confronting kids in poverty, our out-of-control-war economy, and our melting planet. We also discuss why we march.
NYC Transit Union Protects Medicare; UFT Retirees Beat Mulgrew!
By Joe Maniscalco
Nope, contrary to what some of the most powerful union leaders in the country would have working people believe—organized labor does not have to abandon the Medicare benefits it fought so hard to achieve in favor of profit-mad Medicare Advantage health insurance plans [MAPs].
Listen: NYC Docs Ready to Walk?/Taxi Workers Want Wall St. to Pay For MTA
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we talk with physicians from the Doctor’s Council SEIU representing thousands of physicians working at New York City’s Health + Hospitals Corporation.
Here’s How to Survive Toxic Work Zones!!
By Ryn Gargulinski
“Mondays suck.” “Today is going to be the worst workday ever.” “The world is going to hell in a handbasket.” Raise your hand if any of those thoughts crossed your mind in the last year. The last month. The last week. The last five minutes?
Phil Cohen War Stories: ‘We’re Not Yellow, We Go Anywhere!’
By Phil Cohen
During the early 1930’s, anyone could pay the city $10 for a taxi medallion to register their vehicle for livery service. The small silver shield, attached to the hood of their car, documented drivers were licensed to transport passengers who hailed them on the street.
Listen: The Link Between War and Poverty
By Bob Hennelly
Over the weekend, the United States asked the UN Security Council to consider its most recent ceasefire resolution to “bring about a full and immediate ceasefire with the release of the hostages” in Gaza.
Understaffing — Again! Upstate NY Nursing Home Workers Set to Strike to Protect Clients
By Steve Wishnia
More than 300 workers at four for-profit nursing homes in western New York State will go on strike June 13 if they can’t reach a contract agreement. The main issues, according to workers and the 1199SEIU union, are chronic understaffing and unfair labor practices such as the owners imposing their contract offer on June 2.
Unions See Hochul’s Reversal on Congestion Pricing As a Big Win for New Yorkers
By Bob Hennelly
Did the elites just not get who actually runs New York City?
In a surprise reversal, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has put the brakes on the MTA’s congestion pricing plan just a few weeks before it was scheduled to start on June 30. The announcement was made via a video announcement.
‘Help…I am Trapped in Medicare (Dis)Advantage’
By Jenn Coffey
My name is Jenn and I am from Manchester, New Hampshire. At one time, I was a fully functioning EMT and holding down multiple jobs at once, one of which was as a State Representative.
I was a Republican and the Vice-Chair of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. For twenty years of my life, I served my community as a medical tech in the hospital, and as an EMT in the field.
I thought we could “fix” healthcare.
Listen: Poverty Exists Because We Allow it to Exist
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of the Moral Monday Labor Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. William Barber & Bob Hennelly, we’re counting down to the June 29th “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington D.C. and to the Polls.” We hear from AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond about the national union’s commitment to support the march.
Did 32BJ Just Dodge a Bullet After Aetna Deal Collapses in NYC?
By Bob Hennelly
In America, healthcare delivery to patients and hospital finance are strategically compartmentalized to limit transparency. This is done to keep the consumer in the dark about pricing before services are rendered—all so that providers and profit-driven insurers can make a killing.
Donald Trump Should Go to Prison
By Steve Wishnia
Donald Trump should go to prison.
Much of the punditry following his conviction on 34 Class E felony charges on May 30 quoted supposed “experts” saying he’s unlikely to get jail time, as he’s 77 years old, a first offender, and E felonies are the least serious felonies in the New York State penal code. Oh, and it might be politically divisive.
The Monopoly Jeopardizing Your Safety…
By Steve Wishnia
Randy Fannon, vice president for safety at the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, says in his 37 years working for railroads, the “most drastic” changes have come in the last five years.
Listen: NJ’s Largest Nurses’ Union Okays Strike!
By Bob Hennelly
At a press conference this week HPAE, New Jersey’s largest nurses’ union, announced today an overwhelming strike vote approvals at three large New Jersey Hospitals.
‘An Industry on the Brink of Disaster’
By Steve Wisnia
On May 23, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed settlement in which the Norfolk Southern railroad would pay more than $310 million to cover remediation costs from the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The town of 4,800 people had to be partially evacuated after about 50 cars on a 9,300-foot train derailed, including five carrying vinyl chloride, and some caught fire. The highly toxic gas, used in plastic manufacturing, had to be released and burned to avert an explosion.
Listen: Memorial Day with EMS Workers Sacrificing All!
By Bob Hennelly
Today is a national holiday, and on this episode of the Moral Monday Labor Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. William Barber & Bob Hennelly, we’re talking about the hundreds of thousands of EMTs and paramedics working hard to save lives and deliver health care to tens of millions of Americans who do not have regular access to a doctor.
Phil Cohen War Stories: The Strike Vote
By Phil Cohen
The art of defeating hostile employers involves attacking on multiple fronts simultaneously, in ways they least expect, until executives come to feel like medieval lords trapped in a castle, surrounded by Vikings at every gate.