(NEW YORK CITY) - New York City has entered into a "historic" Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the city’s Unionized Building and Construction Unions to provide Union jobs and access to Union Apprenticeships to low-income and minority New Yorkers on city projects as part of the Community Hiring NYC initiative, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. De more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - On July 29th, 17 Transit Workers were awarded certificates attesting to their completion of three-year Apprenticeships in Skilled Trade Titles within New York City Transit. The certificates were awarded by Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 President Tony Utano, Training and Upgrading Fund Director Charles Jenkins, in conjunction more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - When The Strand alerted its Employees it was reopening on June 22nd, managers sent re-hired Workers a three-page safety plan ahead of their return to the iconic Greenwich Village Bookstore. “I looked at it and I said, well, ‘they’re taking it seriously enough,’” said Employee Bill Magee, a Member of United more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - It looks like there won't be a Strike at Columbia University after the Union representing more than 600 Maintenance Workers, Electricians, Plumbers, Painters and Security Officers employed at four Columbia University Campuses announced the two sides have agreed in principle on a two-year contract. After months of negotiations, TWU Local more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – “We ‘need to have proper’ PPE (Personal Protection Equipment),” long-time Nurse Stephanie McGrath said at a small lunch-hour rally outside the Veterans Administration hospital on East 23rd Street Wednesday (August 5th). “The VA (Veterans Administration) supplies ‘are below standards.’” more»

With people cooped up at home, video game sales have spiked up almost 20% over a year ago - but against the backdrop of growing earnings, the industry is facing a reckoning over how it treats Workers. The business of making video games is often a passion project, said Dmitri Williams, an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Southern more»

(QUEENS, NEW YORK) – St. John’s University Journalism Major Giovahn Dejoie, 19, had high hopes when he moved to Queens and started working at Eulen American in the Fall of 2019, but less than four months into his job as a JFK Airport Baggage Handler, Dejoie started to see red flags: “One of the ‘first things was pushing two more»

LaborPress.org Editor’s Note: Want to support Essential Front Line Workers? Wear a mask in public and push your U.S. Senators to back Hazard Pay and other vital protections for all those helping to keep the Nation running. Pictured above: Stop & Shop Employee and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)/United Food & Commercial more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Aramis Palma cleans and disinfects buildings at Columbia University. It’s a position that’s become much more important because of the Coronavirus. “It’s ‘wonderful.’ ‘I love my job,’” Palma says. “We are ‘essential, essential’ personnel." But Palma’s among more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - New York University’s (NYU) Public Health School has announced it is beginning a series of studies to evaluate how the COVID-19 virus spread among the City’s Transit Workers and the effectiveness of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) actions to limit their exposure to the virus. “This ‘will be more»

The Guardian Editor’s Note: Steven Greenhouse is a Journalist and Author, focusing on Organized Labor and the workplace. He is the author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor In May, Workers at a McDonald’s in San Francisco said that when they asked their employer for masks, they were told to use coffee more»

(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - As many as 25,000 Airport Workers, including predominantly Black and Immigrant Wheelchair Attendants, Security Officers, Cabin and Terminal Cleaners, and other sub-contracted Airport Workers at JFK and LaGuardia Airports are a signature from away from Governor Andrew Cuomo from winning life-saving Health Care Benefits. After a long, more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – Angry Trade Unionists on the front lines of the on-going Coronavirus Pandemic stood up earlier this week against the “three-pronged crisis” gripping Workers in Donald Trump’s America, demanding an end to systemic racism and the immediate passage of the HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency more»

The only curve the U.S. has managed to flatten during the Coronavirus Pandemic is wage growth for Essential Workers. Many Front Line Employees in grocery stores and other essential businesses received hazard pay increases at the start of the crisis, but most of those temporary pay bumps have since been phased out, which effectively amounts to a pay cut for more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Though New York City's Public School Reopening Plan was released by the city, with tweaks for a "blended model" still under way, the head of the powerful Teachers Union remains skeptical of the plan: Michael Mulgrew says any school that falls short of the Union's expectations toward safety will not reopen. His comments came the day after more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - The Coronavirus crisis is putting everyone at risk, but that’s especially true for Front Line Workers - like those who work in Mass Transit, where more than 130 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Workers have succumbed to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in January. Now, MTA Workers face a new threat: angry more»

(QUEENS, NEW YORK) - Come August, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has plans to install protective barriers on buses before resuming front door service and fare collections - Bus Operators, however, remain dubious as COVID-19 continues to gallop across the rest of the country. Joseph Branch (pictured above) is on the Executive Board of more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - The Unions representing tens of thousands of Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Workers are blasting the findings of a consultant lauding the agency for its response to the COVID-19 Virus that has so far killed 132 of their colleagues, with one major Labor Leader terming it "revisionist history." "The MTA took early, proactive, more»

(QUEENS, NEW YORK) - Last week, a cross-section of Essential Workers gathered in Jackson Heights, Queens - one of the hardest hit communities during the Coronavirus Pandemic, to demand New York State pass new legislation compelling employers to provide them with necessary protective gear as New York City enters Phase 3 of its re-opening plan. more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - “Construction ‘is a very difficult job to do social distancing on,’” New York City District Council of Carpenters President Paul Capurso tells LaborPress, but as the construction industry recovers from its epidemic-peak nadir, the Union is relying on protective gear and education to keep its Members safe. more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Crises are a calling for the Brothers and Sisters of New York City International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3. They were on the front lines when the towers fell, when Hurricane Sandy wreaked destruction, when other states and nations have cried out for help after storms and earthquakes – but nothing prepared them more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Vincent Clementoni, a Member of Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, is approaching his seventh year on the job. LaborPress spoke with him to learn about his daily working life and the challenges he faces in the era of Coronavirus. Originally from Brooklyn, where he grew up in Park Slope, the 50-year-old Clementoni (pictured below) now more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - The Coronavirus-austerity budget passed by the City Council on July 1st could result in one out of every 15 City Workers being laid off if labor costs aren’t cut by $1 billion within three months and the Unions representing them aren’t happy about that. “That’s a ‘thank you we get for fighting the more»

(QUEENS, NEW YORK) – Dozens of Airport Workers who are Members of 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU) participated in a social distancing outdoor rally that was held in the simmering heat at the Katch Astoria Gastropub & Bar in Queens late last week to advocate for the Healthy Terminals Act. Since the Coronavirus Pandemic hit the more»

(THE BRONX, NEW YORK) – Members of International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUYPAT) District Council 9 volunteered their time to repair broken storefront windows for two minority-owned local small businesses in the Bronx that were damaged during recent protests. The IUPAT Members lent their specialized skills to repair two Bronx more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) is a 42,000-strong Union of Front-Line Nurses that is New York’s largest Union and Professional Association for Registered Nurses (RNs). LaborPress spoke to NYSNA President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez to learn more about the struggles her Union’s Members are facing in the time of more»

CSEA Editor’s Note: Pictured above, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Union Members James Hodge and Greg Webster are ready for the drive thru-rally. (Photos provided by CSEA City of Long Beach Unit President John Mooney.) (LONG BEACH, LONG ISLAND) - The COVID-19 Pandemic has led to financial difficulties for many communities across the more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Chanting “Equal Pay for Equal Work,” about 60 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Members rallied outside a Manhattan Homeless Shelter last week, demanding that privately run shelters that receive city funds pay their Security Officers the same wages that guards at city-run shelters get. “This ‘double more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Mayor de Blasio warned this week that without $1 billion in concessions from City Unions, he would have no choice but to lay off or furlough 22,000 Workers. Meanwhile, top Union Officials reacted angrily to his announcement, saying they got virtually no notice before he revealed that worst-case scenario. "Here’s ‘a way to more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Hundreds of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Members rallied in front of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Headquarters Wednesday (June 24th) because they’ve been working without a contract since May 2019 - even though the Union that represents the largest number of Employees at New York City Transit, Transit Workers more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Two more women who were teenagers when they worked at a McDonald’s in Lansing, Michigan have added their names to a growing Class Action Sexual Harassment Lawsuit that was first filed last Fall. In November, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit on behalf of former McDonald’s Worker Jenna Ries and a more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – Two organizations - Jobs with Justice and UnionBase, have come together during the Coronavirus Pandemic to offer a new website: WorkersMemorialWall.org, where people can post pictures of their Co-Workers who have been lost to COVID-19. LaborPress (LP) recently talked with Jobs with Justice Executive Director Erica Smiley (ES) to more»

(BROOKLYN, NEW YORK) - Labor Unions - if they aren’t already in the streets following the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other unarmed People of Color, need to stand with Community Activists who are confronting police brutality and “bringing the heat for change in this country.” That’s the message 32BJ more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-represented Janitors, Doormen and Security Officers took a knee along 6th Avenue this week to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Justice for Janitors Movement. The commemoration coincides with a week’s worth of action organized by the Movement for Black Lives, which has more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Con Edison Workers could walk off the job on Saturday (June 20th), now that Members of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 1-2 have authorized a Strike against the Utility Giant. LaborPress recently sat down with UWUA President James Slevin to find out more about the challenges facing the Union, all those who have continued more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - A tentative contract has been reached to end a 13-day-old Strike by Para-Transit Workers in Brooklyn and Staten Island, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATI) Local 1181 has announced (on June 9th). The agreement with the Dallas-based contractor MV Transportation, which describes itself as the Nation’s leading provider of para-transit more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – As Mayor Bill de Blasio contemplates moving up a Phase II reopening of New York City’s business community, which would include retail stores, to June 22nd instead of early July, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is raising some serious concerns. While this possible move would help the restaurant industry more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – Seven New York City Labor Leaders have put their names on a letter calling on New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea to put a stop to police brutality. The seven who signed the letter were: Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 1 Vice President Dennis more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Not all heroes wear capes, but they all deserve shields. In the early weeks of the COVID-19 Pandemic, with the number of Coronavirus cases skyrocketing across the state and Nation, the need for potentially lifesaving Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Front Line Essential Workers could not be quenched. In the meantime, a few more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - The largest Union representing Property Service Workers in the United States in supporting the campaign to cut $1 billion from the New York Police Department (NYPD) budget following a week of often violent police suppression of Constitutionally-protected demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Supporters of more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)-United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 338 is comprised almost entirely of Essential Workers, a great many of them helping to keep New Yorkers fed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, Workers - especially those in grocery stores, have not backed down. more»

(BROOKLYN, NEW YORK) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have both failed the people of New York and Organized Labor has a vital role to play in helping to fill the leadership vacuum, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams says. Williams and eight other city and state elected officials defied New York’s first curfew in almost 80 more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - New York City Sanitation Workers have ratified a new four-year contract with the city by a near unanimous margin, Sanitationmen’s Association President Harry Nespoli has announced. The Workers, who are Members of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, backed the contract with 98% approval, he said. The contract covers more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - As millions of Americans sheltered in place in what many expected to be a sleepy Memorial Day - it became anything but after the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota cops went viral. The latest killing of an unarmed Black citizen by police superseded the sacrifice of America’s War Veterans in the minds of Labor Leaders and Worker more»

(THE BRONX, NEW YORK) - Nine Dental Assistants in the Bronx who balked after being thrust into St. Barnabas Hospital’s Emergency COVID-19 Unit have won their jobs back. According to 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Dental Assistants were told they were being transferred from Union Community Health Center, then put on a call list more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - A top official at New York’s largest Transit Worker Union has died of lung cancer after a prolonged battle with the disease. Nelson Rivera, 53, the Administrative Vice President of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, was known by colleagues for his humanitarian work and long-time leadership. He was diagnosed with stage four more»

(NEW YORK CITY) – Last week, the Laborers Local 60 and the New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation Education Trust (LECET) recognized Essential Workers helping to keep Westchester County moving by giving them free meals as they worked on job sites in New Rochelle and Yonkers. At the Montesano job site in Yonkers, 35 Union Members - consisting more»

I saw a Trump 2020 flag on a house in Massapequa the other day - not unusual, as there are a lot of Republicans on Long Island - but what made me stop was the work truck in the driveway with an IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) decal on it. I couldn’t help wonder how the wall, the attacks on Immigrants, the attacks on Unions, the more»

(NEW YORK CITY) - This week, Local 802 American Federation of Musicians (AFM) launched "Music for the Soul of NYC's Health + Hospitals Heroes" in partnership with The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and NYC Health + Hospitals. This new series will support the 43,000 Staff at New York City’s 11 public hospitals and their patients, funded by more»

(MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA) - Google says most of its Employees will likely be allowed to work remotely through the end of year. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Employees who needed to work in the office would be allowed to return in June or July with enhanced safety measures in place. The rest would likely continue working from home, a Google spokesperson more»