WAR STORIES By Phil Cohen

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of Phil’s three-part saga chronicling his harrowing days trying to eke out a living on the streets of Tehran and Kabul just prior to the Iranian Revolution and Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. 

The guards aroused travelers at dawn and pointed us toward several white vans lined up near the crossing. I was instructed to board one of them, surrendered my bedroll to be tied on the roof but forcibly knocked the driver’s hand away as he reached for the guitar. When the rear door finally closed, I found myself in the most crowded environment I’d ever experienced. It made the New York subway during rush hour seem spacious by comparison.

By Joe Maniscalco

They work on the same subway tracks and roads. They help move the same people throughout New York City. But Metropolitan Transit Authority employees represented by TWU Local 100 and the Subway-Surface Supervisors Association do not experience retirement the same.

By Bob Hennelly

While union density in the U.S. continues to be about half of what it was in the 1980s there are significant signs of a major rebound.

WAR STORIES By Phil Cohen

Editor’s Note: This is Part I of Phil’s three-part saga chronicling his harrowing days trying to eke out a living on the streets of Tehran and Kabul just prior to the Iranian Revolution and Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. 

The road goes on forever and the party never ends – Robert Earl Keen

In 1976, I’d been driving medallion taxis in New York City for two years, working several long night shifts per week, sufficient to pay the rent on my small apartment. I found myself living a lifestyle similar to the Robert De Niro character in Taxi Driver, the ultimate cinematic portrayal of a lonely job in the heart of urban ugliness, violence and alienation.

By Bob Hennelly

In this edition of WBAI’s What's Going On, co-host retired FDNY EMT Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees and WBAI’s interim program director Keziah Glow speak with Dr. Steve Auerbach, a retired captain in the U.S. Public Health Service.

By Joe Maniscalco

They work on the same New York City subway tracks and roads. They help move the same people. But Metropolitan Transit Authority employees represented by TWU Local 100 and the Subway-Surface Supervisors Association do not retire the same.

By Bob Hennelly

It’s 48 days until former President Trump drops the former and just becomes President Trump again on Inauguration Day, which next year, ironically coincides with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King holiday.

By Bob Hennelly

President-Elect Trump’s Secretary of Labor selection of Rep. Lori Chavez-De Remer, one of only three Republicans to support the PRO-Act, which would greatly strengthen the hand of new unions’ bargaining their first contract, was called “significant” by United Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten. 

By Steve Wishnia

Amazon delivery drivers in Queens are demanding the company oust a union-busting firm after one of its “persuaders” repeatedly called a pro-union driver a “faggot” on Nov. 27.

By Bob Hennelly

This episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour with Keziah Glow is dedicated to 32 BJ SEIU’s campaign to organize building service workers here in New York, New Jersey, and in ten other states—including the anti-union, right to work south. Collective action is now more vital than ever.

By Steve Wishnia

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a special two-part Work-Bites Report. Click here for part one.

The city public hospitals’ system of hiring doctors through private affiliates is devastating morale and endangering patient care, several doctors tell Work-Bites.

By Ryn Gargulinski

You can find bad bosses as easily as you can find mushy cucumbers in Florida or rats in New York City. But let’s not forget there are a ton of good bosses out there as well. OK, maybe not a ton. But enough to bring joy to our hearts, meaning to our work and a smile to our face every time we set out to work on a project for them.

By Steve Wishnia

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a special two-part Work-Bites report.

The prolonged contract dispute between doctors at the city’s public hospitals and the three private affiliates that New York City Health + Hospitals has outsourced their employment to is coming to a boil.

By Bob Hennelly

The Republican Party sweep of the White House and Congress has prompted fierce debate within the Democratic Party as to what went wrong who's responsible for the loss. Here in New York State, Democrats did manage to flip three House seats. But 2024 saw Trump pick 95,000 votes in New York City while Democrats loss a half-million votes,  according to the New York Times. 

By Joe Maniscalco

The New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees [NYCOPSR] is set to officially endorse attorney and independent candidate for mayor Jim Walden at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn on Monday, Nov. 25.

By Bob Hennelly

On this episode of We Decide: America at the Crossroads with Jenna Flanagan, we speak with Marianne Pizzitola, retired FDNY/EMT and president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees and Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works who discuss the growing national anxiety about the privatization of Medicare through profit-driven Medicare Advantage plans. 

By Bob Hennelly

The funeral for Dariel Vasquez, an 18 year-old volunteer firefighter and New York State Parks employee who was killed fighting a forest fire in Sterling Forest earlier this month, was held today in Haverstraw, New York.

By Joe Maniscalco

You know the old saying, “Good guys finish last.” Even at Christmas.

But whoever said that didn’t have a fighting labor union behind them well prepared to work a little holiday magic on behalf of the rank & file.

WAR STORIES By Phil Cohen

Editor’s Note: This is Part II of “The Conveyor Belt Incident.” Check out Part I here.

Fighting for Cicero

At noon on June 1, I sat at the long table in the plant conference room with Cicero and the executive board to prep for the president’s grievance hearing. An hour later, management took their places across from us.

By Joe Maniscalco

Right now, Donald Trump is prepping to make good on a campaign pledge to begin deporting millions of hard-working  immigrants on Day One of his new administration.