Buffalo Nurses’ Successful Strike Highlights Union Divide and Doubts over New Staffing Law
The union’s focus on direct action reflects skepticism that an incoming staffing law will significantly increase staffing ratios.

Men locked up in the Broome County jail describe an opioid treatment program so shoddy, they risk withdrawal, relapse, and overdose.
A group of Manhattan Democrats wants to force County Leader Keith Wright to choose between working for the party and working for a lobbying firm.
A major wind and solar developer is defecting from industry ranks, arguing the state shouldn’t bail out struggling projects.
The Adams administration said the city would replace discontinued Rikers courses. “I can say for certain that that’s not true,” one worker told New York Focus.
The addiction epidemic is getting worse in the Capital Region. Through local zoning laws, residents fight to keep the state’s solutions out of their backyards.
Mixed evidence was piling up about a signature New York drug policy experiment. Then the state stopped releasing the data.
Under Roberta Reardon, the agency has recovered less and less of workers’ stolen wages. Meanwhile, staff resign, and replacements lag.
Some counties pay social services workers so little, the people who administer benefits end up applying themselves.
In December, the governor vetoed legislation requiring freight trains to be staffed with at least two crew members. Rail workers say it’s a bare minimum for safety.