![A Long Island Rail Road conductor standing inside a train gestures with his hand.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/NCbn_fP_jR35I8y89WQ-brL8SnuJV9O24EeMtGOeJtM/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9MSVJSLWNvbmR1Y3Rvci5qcGc.jpg)
Before Kathy Hochul paused it, the tolling program lost the little labor support it had when the Transport Workers Union withdrew its backing this spring.
![A sign for the Guthrie Cortland Medical Center](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/JnhFO3colPD_gwyee3N0o8BIY9rgHQou8r86Utm4QmY/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9ndXRocmllLWNvcnRsYW5kLW1lZGljYWwtY2VudGVyLmpwZw.jpg)
Medicare Advantage plans are spreading across upstate New York, despite a reputation for denying care. In Cortland County, retirees kept it at bay.
![DOL Commissioner Roberta Reardon (red jacket, left) with Governor Kathy Hochul at a Women's Equality Day event in Albany on August 26, 2022.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/_RvCr3JPGbgaZeenO8rgM_qH-HJUPCWtfr2VBryKK3o/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9yZWFyZG9uLWhvY2h1bC5qcGc.jpg)
No state pursues workers for overpaid unemployment benefits as aggressively as New York. A proposed reform is colliding with New York’s own repayment problem.
![An illustration of a McDonalds sign above the New York State Capitol](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/YaVCj_e4AijMZP7ZeToAyYb28AIFBpS9SnJbBFnCPmM/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9lbXBpcmUtc3RvcnktdmVyc2lvbi0xLmpwZw.jpg)
New Yorkers for Local Businesses has spent half a million dollars trying to kill a bill to help workers recover stolen wages. Almost all its backers appear to own McDonald’s franchises.
![The New York State Department of Labor office in Brooklyn, New York.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Yg_6S1ZGRkkQnmBHF41n6W3FBlzThdoiMyg23ryfBUg/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9kb2wtZXh0ZXJpb3IuanBn.jpg)
In New York, unemployment recipients can be found guilty of fraud even if they thought their information was true. The state demands repayment at the highest rate in the country.
![Workers set up barriers on a street in New York City.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/K9LqwDa4CwQuKOGR6VsAoKV5zHMkoob5oaIRqI0hxQI/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9iYXJyaWVyLXNldHVwLW5ldy15b3JrLmpwZw.jpg)
Low-wage manual laborers can sue to make their bosses pay them weekly. Hochul’s late-breaking budget addition may undermine that right.
![Activists and New York state Senator Julia Salazar rally to pass good cause eviction in Albany. They stand in the high-ceilinged halls of the Capitol with a white banner reading PASS GOOD CAUSE and various red signs.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/639R3WN1fICWJ30z69y72qF-moBMU2LYyAxnFXpt5oo/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5479:0.5979/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9wYXNzLWdvb2QtY2F1c2UuanBn.jpg)
As real estate developers resist wage guarantees and try to roll back tenants’ rights, a potential budget deal is at an impasse.
![A blue car suspended on a post against a blue sky with a sign below reading "PATRIOT AUTO SALES: LETS DEAL TODAY"](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/DG7xG859HLOdA6-xTlurTIKm4Cf7esGqRIgl2iGi7Vc/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9wYXRyaW90LWF1dG8tc2FsZXMuanBn.jpg)
As the state legislature considers a bill to change warranty payments, unions join their bosses to make car companies pay more.
![New York State Assembly speaker Carl Heastie stands in front of a tile wall with TV microphones.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/D-gwg6gHDzOx-ouP-dhIGMdmwqAtHxzJjvvWwIXxgzo/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9oZWFzdGllLW1heS0yMDIzLmpwZw.jpg)
As the relationship was coming to light, Heastie returned $5,000 in campaign cash to a labor group from which he’d recused himself.
![People gather outside a stone arch with sign that says "Hospital & Emergency Room" displaying letters A, C, D, F, G, H, and an emergency cross.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/DQac3liUxRI3W3zEayDBVLQIinQPCq9ffMe9scTiX3E/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9CZWxsZXZ1ZV9Ib3NwaXRhbF9lbnRyYW5jZV9hcmNoLWNyb3AxLmpwZw.jpg)
In the New York City teachers union, anger over a plan to privatize retiree health care could send a longshot campaign over the edge.
![Morning scenic of a power line field in Suffolk County, Long Island, NY.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/nfLc8EjgH9RQV6jPPpMiL98CDJZYto_LYoPIDV-HG2o/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9saXBhLXBvd2VyLWxpbmVzLmpwZw.jpg)
A new bill to municipalize Long Island’s utility includes key worker protections that the union had sought.
![A sign reads "IDAs DRAIN $1.8 BILLION A YEAR FROM NEW YORK SCHOOLS."](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/0op4brTqzO53NycsYhRSumxCx2rA-AnP5rpjB3jDr1o/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9zaWduLkpQRw.jpg)
When local authorities hand out subsidies, school budgets lose revenue. The state teachers union is now pushing back.
![A classroom full of students with the teacher's silhouette filled in with pennies.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/uGn-xuwjhYEeF2NVmg58s1EWwDRxU4xN7hOKqPhUaqs/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9zdWItcGF5LWZpbmFsLmpwZw.jpg)
Long-term subs stay with the same classes and can serve like full-time teachers. New York City schools misclassify them — so their pay doesn’t reflect that.
![In school classroom full of children, a teacher silhouette of a teacher is filled in with microscopic coronaviruses.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/ZKY2HD7VmcBBx3HneQVrRaWi6fo3rOFGWAdWzx2412g/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9zdWItY292aWQtZmluYWwuanBn.jpg)
The state established Covid leave to compensate employees who fell ill during the pandemic. One group of essential workers has been unable to claim it.
![New York governor Kathy Hochul kneels in a red suit with a child looking out in distress](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/AtNemPN1FANiwOpNLxjlkx3tsjQiM_f0CNUlZPCxrjs/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9ob2NodWwtY2hpbGRjYXJlLmpwZw.jpg)
The clock is ticking for the governor to sign or veto a bill to expand child care assistance. Her administration might decide it costs too much — but supporters say their numbers are off.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Rkn60OiGimXzN4rTWKk3XLqz2YablbgyjSuhEUODI0g/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9yb2NoZXN0ZXItdW5pb24tZmlnaHQuanBn.jpg)
Can an oversight group be in the same union as the police it monitors?
![A line of unemployment seekers waits in a San Francisco benefits office during the Great Depression in a black-and-white image. Color clipart of a chatbot is overlayed on the left side](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/ew9xQjRB6KAvX2wKx0dHH3m5BlhhOUEAg_VD6z7VIe4/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy91bmVtcGxveW1lbnQtYm90LmpwZw.jpg)
A Rochester man lost his job while his daughter went through cancer treatment. He’s struggled to communicate with the DOL for months.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/5Tae1yTC4orqLXERCSCLucn5lyUV60JHXGaGnUkeHtQ/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9yZWFyZG9uLWNvbXB1dGVyLmpwZw.jpg)
Under Roberta Reardon, the agency has recovered less and less of workers’ stolen wages. Meanwhile, staff resign, and replacements lag.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/j0wCALjKZgsV3utiJXiDscxSByRPwKmjWOMnXoJJQKo/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9pZC5tZS1mYWNpYWwtcmVjb2duaXRpb24uanBn.jpg)
ID.me’s facial recognition tool was supposed to help administer unemployment securely. Users say the tech has barred them from their accounts — and their paychecks.
![Photo of benefit workers' protest outside their office building in Syracuse](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/mfPiGyaqAC99856Ftxca_1KHBIAV7bJeQqUHBxDiJe4/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9pbWFnZV81MDczNzY2NS5KUEc.jpg)
Some counties pay social services workers so little, the people who administer benefits end up applying themselves.