By Steve Wishnia

The Supreme Court heard a three-headed argument Jan. 10 in a case on whether employers have the right to sue unions in state court for property lost or damaged during a strike.

By Joe Maniscalco

FDNY retiree Ken Dolan’s wife suffers from Parkinson’s and the 80-year-old knew he really should be at home looking after her, but here he was standing outside City Hall on Jan. 9 with hundreds of other senior citizens trying to convince members of the New York City Council not to touch their traditional Medicare health insurance plan.

By Bob Hennelly with Joe Maniscalco

There’s an African proverb that goes like this: “Support those who may have lost their teeth…because they supported you when you were teething.”

By Bob Hennelly with Joe Maniscalco

Were you one of those New Yorkers who were banging on pots and pans or hanging out your window applauding overworked nurses and doctors at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic? Well, striking nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan need you on the picket line today.

By Joe Maniscalco

You know your for-profit, privatized Medicare Advantage health insurance plan really sucks when right-wing Republicans and left-wing Democrats actually unite to defeat its imposition on municipal retirees.

By Steve Wishnia

More than 7,000 nurses went on strike at 6 a.m. Jan. 9 after failing to reach a contract agreement with Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, two of the largest privately owned hospitals in New York City.

By Steve Wishnia

With less than seven hours to go before the strike deadline of 6 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, more than 7,000 nurses at two of New York City’s largest private hospitals are still without a contract deal. But the New York State Nurses Association reached a last-minute tentative agreement Sunday night with two other hospitals, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West in Manhattan, and Gov. Kathy Hochul called for binding arbitration.

By Steve Wishnia

Three New York City private hospitals have reached tentative contract deals with nurses, but more than 10,000 nurses at five others are still scheduled to strike on Jan. 9.

By Joe Maniscalco

After nearly 40 years working for the City of New York retired municipal employee Roberta Gonzalez expected to be traveling the world right about now.

“I always wanted to go to Israel,” the 70-year-old Sheepshead Bay resident told Work-Bites this week.

By Bob Hennelly

No members of the City Council spoke in favor of a controversial bill introduced Jan. 4 that would alter the city’s Administrative Code that covers the provision of health insurance for its employees that’s being advanced by the Adams administration and the Municipal Labor Committee.

By Joe Maniscalco

New York City Retirees opposing ongoing efforts to push them into a disastrous privatized health insurance plan aren’t buying Speaker Adrienne Adams’ sudden rationale for attempting to scrap the law that’s protected municipal healthcare for decades.

By Bob Hennelly 

On the eve of the introduction of controversial legislation to alter the city’s Administrative Code that covers the provision of health insurance for active and retired civil servants, the City Council’s Democratic leadership issued a statement asserting that no matter how they act on the legislation, Mayor Adams and the Municipal Labor Committee will be “moving forward to implement Medicare Advantage.”

BY ROBERT OVETZ

Reprinted by permission

Although my union proudly calls itself a “member led union,” it is extremely undemocratic in several ways.

We do not have “one member, one vote” for the leadership. This means a new caucus needs to win control of at least a majority of the 23 chapters to control the board of directors and the top officer positions.

By Timothy Sheard

Young union leaders bringing the fight to the bosses at Starbucks, Amazon, Chipotle, REI and other bastions of corporate power across the country are inspiring millions and breathing new fire into the labor movement.

By Bob Hennelly with Joe Maniscalco

“I guess the MLC and the mayor decided they wanted retirees to ring in the New Year with a ‘Screw you — we’re gonna do this when you’re not looking!”

By Steve Wishnia

The Supreme Court is about to consider whether employers can sue unions for perishable goods lost during a strike by claiming they’re intentional property damage.

By Bob Hennelly

New York City Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, chair of the Council’s Civil Service and Labor Committee, will introduce a bill to change the city’s Administrative Code that’s been sought by Mayor Adams and the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] to clear the way for its 250,000 retirees to be enrolled in a for-profit, privatized Medicare Advantage plan.

By Bob Hennelly

New York City’s 911 EMS daily call volume has reached 4,500 on multiple days this month, and FDNY EMS unions warn current staffing is so inadequate three years into the Covid pandemic it puts their members at greater risk while degrading the essential service they provide the public.

By Joe Maniscalco

There are a lot of things about the campaign to push New York City municipal retirees into a scandal-plagued, for-profit Medicare Advantage insurance plan that stinks to workers who’ve risked everything — from 9/11 to Covid-19 — to help keep their city running.

By Bob Hennelly

Labor opposition to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul's selection of Judge Hector LaSalle to become New York State’s top jurist continued to intensify over the Christmas holiday. With no signs of either side backing down, the controversy was poised to devolve into a bruising battle exposing the Democratic State Senate caucus along its ideological fault lines once it reconvenes early next month.