By Joe Maniscalco

Ninety-year-old New York City municipal retiree Evie Jones Rich stood on the pavement outside the Manhattan offices of U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in 90-plus degree heat on Friday afternoon, and spoke for nearly six minutes straight about the need to save Medicare from increasing privatization.

By Joe Maniscalco

Unbeknownst to most New Yorkers, the next time they call for help, the EMTs and Paramedics showing up to their rescue might’ve just spent a sleepless night in their cars wondering how they’re gonna cover an unexpected bill.

By Bob Hennelly

Representatives of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration told a New York City Council panel investigating its response to last month’s hazardous air days created by 400 wildfires in Canada, that it was “very proud of the city’s response within the constraints of the forecasting and information” it had at the time.

By Joe Maniscalco

Parks Dept. retiree Michael Sirotta spent nearly a quarter century building up a free arts program for New York City kids. It used to be located on Staten Island. Famous Alumi of the now defunct program include recording artist and actor Ingrid Michaelson who joined the program when she was nine.

By Bob Hennelly

Courtesy of InsiderNJ

Six days after the line of duty deaths of Newark firefighters Augusto Acabou, 45, and Wayne Brooks Jr., 49, the fire aboard the Grande Costa D’Avorio docked in Port Newark is finally out but basic questions about the response continue to proliferate and officials are deflecting with the standard “It’s under investigation.”

By Robert Ovetz

Courtesy of The Chief

At a recent worker organizing conference I heard a talk by a PSC-CUNY member who called for repealing the Taylor Law. During the break, while we talked about how to do that, they dismissed using “illegal” strikes. The reason was, they said, PSC would be unable to do one-on-one meetings with all the faculty to collect their dues once automatic dues deduction is suspended as punishment for striking.  

By Bob Hennelly

Courtesy of InsiderNJ.com

Forty-eight hours after fire first broke out on the massive Grande Costa D’Avorio vehicle carrier ship docked in Port Newark, firefighters were still trying to extinguish the blaze that claimed the lives of two beloved Newark firefighters, Augusto Acabou, 45, and Wayne Brooks Jr., 49.

Officials say the fire could continue to burn into the weekend.

By Steve Wishnia

State Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank has blocked the city from switching its retired employees’ health coverage to Medicare Advantage. A preliminary injunction issued this morning scotches its Monday deadline for retirees who want to keep traditional Medicare to opt out of the for-profit Aetna Medicare Advantage plan.

By Steven Wishnia

Dozens of retired city workers overflowed a Manhattan courtroom on July 6, as State Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank heard oral arguments on whether he should issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the City of New York from switching their health coverage from Medicare to a private Medicare Advantage plan on Monday, July 10.

The judge said he expected to issue a ruling on Friday, July 7.

By Bob Hennelly

On this Independence Day edition of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we find Canada continuing to battle hundreds of forest fires in what is that nation’s worst wildfire season on record with 250 blazes still out of control consuming close to 20 million acres — the near equivalent of two thirds of New York State’s landmass.

By Steve Wishnia

New York State Attorney General Letitia James is suing the owners of four nursing homes, charging that they siphoned off more than $83 million in Medicare and Medicaid payments through a “related-party transaction” scheme where they channeled money intended for resident care to businesses they, their associates, or family members own.

By Bob Hennelly

Mayor Adams and the City Council have reached a “handshake” agreement on a $107 billion budget that restores some of the controversial cuts that were proposed by the administration as it grappled with the fiscal fallout from the pandemic, the nation’s immigration crisis, and the end of federal COVID aid.

By Joe Maniscalco

Union leaders backing the privatization of traditional Medicare benefits may appear oblivious to what they’re doing to the lives of municipal retirees, but do they understand what their doing to the labor movement overall? According to retirees fighting privatization in New York City — they’re going to “destroy labor as we know it” and it’s up to retirees to “organize and protect labor.”

By Steve Wishnia

Nurses at the city’s 11 public hospitals are finally reporting “significant progress” in contract talks with the New York City Health + Hospitals agency, their union says.

In talks June 23, the New York State Nurses Association said in a statement, both sides agreed to an escalated calendar of bargaining sessions in July, with the goal of reaching a contract deal by Aug. 1. Their current agreement expired Mar. 2.

By Joe Maniscalco

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a multi-part report following today’s New York City Organizaiton of Public Service Retirees’ press conference held outside City Hall.

Sonia Agron, a retired EMT for the City of New York stood in a downpour outside City Hall this afternoon talking about how she and her husband — a retiree from the NYPD — are both “very sick” with 911-related illnesses and feeling very betrayed by all those trying to strip municipal retirees of their traditional Medicare health benefits and force them into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage program run by Aetna.

By Joe Maniscalco

This week, District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido immediately started calling City Council Member Charles Barron’s measure to preserve a half-century commitment to retiree healthcare “the single most irresponsible proposal in the history of New York City’s Council” — he forgot to include the New York State Legislature where Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski is responsible for introducing virtually the same legislation.

By Bob Hennelly

New York City Council Member Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) has introduced the legislation that’s been sought by New York City municipal retirees to preserve their access to traditional Medicare.

By Joe Maniscalco

New York City municipal retirees rallying outside City Hall in support of new legislation by Council Member Charles Barron protecting traditional Medicare got more than they expected Thursday, when they learned New York State Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski is also introducing similar legislation at the state level.

By Joe Maniscalco

Members of a mostly Republican caucus inside the New York City Council filed an amicus brief today in New York State Supreme Court supporting municipal retirees seeking a preliminary injunction against Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to strip city workers of their traditional Medicare coverage and force them into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage plan run by Aetna.

By Bob Hennelly

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and a coalition of 11 unions representing more than 32,000 uniformed officers have reached a tentative contract deal that raises pay 3.25 percent in the first two years, 3.50 percent in the third and fourth year, with a 4 percent bump in the fifth and final year.