Topics Labor
Staying Focused
Sign up for our free newsletter, and we'll make sure you never miss a beat.
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.

Maxwell Parrott   ·   November 9, 2021
Court Blocks Controversial Medicare Switch for Retired NYC Workers

A judge’s decision delays the Oct. 31 deadline for former city employees to decide whether they want to move to private Medicare Advantage or pay for alternatives.

Sam Mellins   ·   October 22, 2021
Retirees Flee City Medicare Program as Deadline Looms for Move to Private Health Plan

Uncertainty about coverage and costs under Medicare Advantage has a quarter million former city workers on edge. Two lawsuits seeking to block the move are slated to be heard in court Wednesday.

Sam Mellins   ·   October 20, 2021
New York’s Excluded Workers Fund is Running Out of Cash

Tens of thousands of undocumented workers could be left out. Advocates are pushing to add more funds.

Sam Mellins   ·   October 6, 2021
Cab Drivers Are Drowning in Debt. The City’s Plan Won’t Help.

The city’s taxi agency has ignored drivers’ demands and proposed a plan that the comptroller warns ‘would spend more money to forgive less debt.’

Wen Zhuang   ·   September 23, 2021
Will ‘Blue Collar Mayor’ Adams Give City Unions What They Want?

With deep ties to both organized labor and the city’s business elite, Mayor Eric Adams will face tough tradeoffs on union contracts.

Doug Turetsky   ·   September 21, 2021
Rikers Staffing Crisis Limits Access to Medical Care

With thousands of officers not coming into work, incarcerated people aren’t getting escorted to their medical appointments, a New York Focus investigation finds.

Rachel Sherman   ·   August 26, 2021
Retired City Workers Brace for Shift to Privatized Health Care

City leaders have awarded a contract to provide city retirees private Medicare-like insurance to a corporate coalition termed “The Alliance.” Former public workers worry their coverage may change.

Sam Mellins and Rachel M. Cohen   ·   August 19, 2021
Schumer Announces New York’s Latest Semiconductor Deal, to Subsidy Watchdogs’ Chagrin

New York is showering microchip manufacturers with billions in subsidies—on top of massive federal incentives.

Julia Rock   ·   July 26, 2021
Abolish the EDC

The Economic Development Corporation manages city land in the service of private profit. We need a new approach.

Avi Garelick and Andrew Schustek   ·   June 28, 2021
Wage Theft Got Worse During Covid. A Stalled Bill Could Give Workers Leverage To Fight Back

Cuomo pledged to deal with rampant wage theft this year, then failed to deliver. Now, a bill to recover stolen wages is unlikely to pass the legislature.

Amir Khafagy   ·   June 10, 2021
Why Is New York Still Taxing Unemployment Benefits?

Unemployed New Yorkers are receiving surprise tax bills. Republican legislators joined with progressive Democrats to move to waive taxes on benefits, following the lead of most other states and the federal government.

Daniel Moritz-Rabson   ·   April 29, 2021
Gas plant in Newburgh tests limits of NY’s landmark climate law

Can New York meet its emissions goals if it green-lights more fossil fuel infrastructure? A proposal to rebuild a fracked-gas plant will set the precedent.

Lee Harris   ·   April 22, 2021
Health Care Costs for Retired City Workers Could Dramatically Increase Under City Plan

A quarter million retired city workers could be left with bigger health insurance bills and fewer doctor choices under a city plan to change their health insurance.

Sam Mellins   ·   April 21, 2021
“A byzantine and high-bar system”: Governor pushes to saddle undocumented workers fund with documentation requirements

State lawmakers and workers’ rights advocates warned that burdensome proof-of-employment requirements may mean the funds go unspent.

Lee Harris   ·   April 2, 2021
Queens Public Defenders Win Unionization Vote

After months of conflict involving alleged intimidation and potentially illegal firings, workers at Queens Defenders voted overwhelmingly to unionize.

Sam Mellins   ·   March 11, 2021
In Manhattan D.A. Race, Momentum Builds to Decriminalize Sex Work

In a striking sign of activists’ success, most candidates running in the June election for DA say they would not prosecute cases involving consensual sex work.

Sam Mellins   ·   March 4, 2021
“We Need to Hold Him Accountable”: After Sexual Harassment Allegations, Legislators Search for Ways to Respond

With the state ethics commission widely seen as controlled by the governor, legislators are looking for other ways to investigate the allegations.

Akash Mehta   ·   February 25, 2021
Queens Defenders Fires Two Pro-Union Employees

Amid an ongoing union election at the Queens indigent defense law firm, two outspoken union supporters were fired without warning.

Sam Mellins   ·   February 11, 2021
Queens Public Defenders Push to Unionize. Management Calls Them a ‘Mob.’

A wave of legal aid attorneys are joining the labor movement. But bosses say it’s bad for business and the unions just want to collect their dues.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 7, 2021
1 2 3 4