Unions, city officials begin negotiations on new municipal employee health plan
But critics say joint Emblem, UnitedHealth plan is latest effort to diminish benefits
BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com
Most municipal employees would be enrolled in a new, cost-saving health benefit plan city officials say would allow them to see more doctors, specialists and other clinicians than their current plans do, Mayor Eric Adams and Labor Commissioner Renee Campion announced Monday. The proposed plan, which would be jointly administered by the insurance companies EmblemHealth and UnitedHealthcare, would cover about 750,000 employees, pre-Medi-
care retirees and their dependents, or 75 percent of the city’s workforce and their families, the mayor’s office said in a release.
Adams administration officials, along with representatives of the Municipal Labor Committee, the umbrella organization of city public-sector unions, will now negotiate details of the proposal with the companies. The mayor’s office estimated the plan would save the city as much as $1 billion a year as well as institute the city’s first-ever
self-funded insurance plan.
The release said the proposal would have “the most high-quality, affordable, health-care options available” while expanding a nationwide network of doctors and mental health specialists.
Adams said the joint proposal represented the city’s bid “to secure an even better deal” for city employees. “For the first time in over four decades, we are seeking an upgraded city employee health plan that will maintain high-quality care and
‘Leadership must be held accountable — not just for these decisions, but for the secrecy and spin used to sell them.’
— Dan Alicea, A CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATOR AND ORGANIZER
Mulgrew secures
6th UFT term, besting 2 challengers
BY CRYSTAL LEWIS and RICHARD KHAVKINE
The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, handily won a sixth consecutive three-year term as head of the 200,000-member union, this time beating two challengers. Mulgrew and the Unity Caucus candidates received 54 percent of the vote, while Amy Arundell, of the A Better Contract Caucus, polled 32 percent of ballots and Olivia Swisher, of the ARISE Caucus, trailed in third with 14 percent, according to results posted on the
UFT’s website.
“I want to thank the tens of thousands of UFT members who put their trust in Unity and in our work on behalf of the union. I also want to recognize all the candidates who ran in this election — it is no easy task,” Mulgrew said in a statement. “Now, we have to focus on the work in front of us — protecting public education, fixing Tier 6, and getting the financial respect our paraprofessionals deserve.”
head
premium-free coverage, while expanding access to more specialists, especially mental health professionals, and increasing access to more out-of-state doctors for retirees,” he said in a statement announcing the proposal.
But the city’s effort to save on health-care expenses, predicated as it is on cost-savings, has been criticized as a weakening of the municipal employees’ health benefits that some municipal union members say has been underway for several years.
Winning insurance company bids must by definition have built-in cost-savings themselves, which are achieved by reducing benefits, they say. Those could be achieved by instituting higher copays and deductibles or higher charges for some procedures and techniques, such as imaging.
Dan Alicea, a city public school educator, noted in a recent Substack post that the MLC itself indicated that while municipal workers would ostensibly still have access to a premium-free plan, they would also face “much higher copays” at certain hospitals.
“It is possible, depending on negotiations, that some hospital networks may be preferred and will see lower than current co-pays and, if a hospital network proves to be a bad actor, it may see adverse action taken. Our hope — and belief — is that at the end of the day no hospital is going to want to see itself disfavored in members’ choices and will act responsibly,” an April 28 MLC letter to union leaders says. Alicea said a tiered copay system
HEALTH, page 6
New summons policy for traffic violations
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
Delivery workers and their advocates are sounding the alarm about a policy change by the NYPD that has led to hundreds of immigrant delivery workers receiving criminal court summonses for routine traffic violations. The workers have been getting hit with the court summonses for running red lights, riding on the sidewalk, rolling through stop signs and other common traffic violations that were traditionally punished with a so-called B-summons that could be paid online or contested during a virtual hearing. But starting April 28, NYPD officers began issuing more serious C-summonses for the violations, which mandates the recipients, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, to appear in court. In the first two weeks of the policy change, the NYPD wrote 916 criminal court summonses to e-bike riders, according to data the department provided to Streetsblog. The
NYPD issued less than 600 such violations last year, according to the department.
An NYPD spokesperson did not provide The Chief with summons figures for the last two weeks of May, but advocates for bike lanes, e-bike riders and delivery workers say the NYPD has continued to issue C-summonses for the violations.
Leadership of Los Deliveristas Unidos, which advocates for the more than 60,000 delivery workers in the city, said at a May 28 rally outside City Hall that the workers are being unfairly singled out by the new policy. “Most of the workers who are the main target of this enforcement are immigrants and deliveristas who are easy targets in the roads and the streets,” said Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of Workers Justice Project, Los Deliveristas Unidos’ parent organization. “This is a whole new way of targeting and trying to criminalize workers.”
LDU first heard about the change from delivery workers who came into the organization’s offices and worker centers for help with paying their tickets, as was customary for many drivers, said Luis Cortes, Los Deliveristas Unidos’ executive
director. But staff quickly realized that the tickets were for court summonses and advised the workers to go to court to resolve them, which drivers were reluctant to do, Cortes said.
“Their reaction is ‘no way, I’m not going,’” for fear of being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and removed from their communities when they show up to court, Cortes told The Chief following last Wednesday’s rally.
It’s a fear that’s increased under the Trump administration, which has launched a broad crackdown on immigrants and empowered ICE agents to detain people at their workplaces, schools, citizenship and immigration hearings and inside courthouses.
‘Scapegoating’ needed solutions
Last week, two dozen plainclothes federal agents arrested immigrants, advocates and a pastor inside of a Manhattan immigration court building at 26 Federal Plaza, according to the news website The City. See DELIVERISTAS, page 3
Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, left, and Mayor Eric Adams following the June 2023 announcement of a tentative fiveplus-year contract agreement. Mulgrew this week won a sixth consecutive term as
of the union.
Duncan Freeman /The Chief
City delivery workers on the City Hall steps during a rally last week protesting a policing policy change that has led to hundreds of e-bike riders receiving criminal court summons for traffic violations.
See
See UFT, page 6
Make the Road workers say recent layoffs of dozens targeted union organizers
Cuts announced a week after contract ratification
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
David Haro spent most of last Thursday at his electronically-powered standing desk working on two new computer monitors with a wireless mouse and keyboard inside Make the Road New York’s state-ofthe-art $38 million community center in Queens.
The immigrant advocacy organization opened the 24,000-square-foot Roosevelt Avenue center on Feb. 5 with the goal of having a large space — which includes private consultation rooms, dedicated childcare areas and a 300-person capacity auditorium — to better support and aid immigrants.
But, Haro said, the community center was mostly empty on May 29, its freshly waxed atrium silent, because more than 30 Make the Road employees were being laid off, 15 others have had their hours cut and many more work from home. Haro was among 22 union members at Make the Road to receive a layoff notice the morning of March 27, less than a week after the workers’ first contract as part of United Auto Workers Local 2320 was finalized.
The union filed grievances, bargained with management for two months and protested outside the community center, but workers have been unable to change the fact that Haro’s last day on the job, and that of 20 of his union colleagues, was Friday. About 10 non-union supervisors were also laid off. One union member who had received a layoff notice was reassigned. Holding back tears, he told The Chief in a phone interview from his cubicle that he feared for New York’s immigrant community, given Make the Road’s staffing cuts.
“It’s terrible timing because our community is being targeted by the current Trump administration and they’re being stripped from services they need,” Haro said. There will be fewer English as a second language classes, fewer organizers, fewer outreach workers and fewer paralegals, like Haro, to aid immigrants in New York, he said.
“There’s no words to even de-
scribe how painful the layoffs are,” said Monica Navarro, a paralegal who’s worked at Make the Road for 20 years and is being laid off. “I was devastated.”
Union: Seniority disregarded
The company, union members said, did not respect workers’ seniority in the layoff process and instead intentionally targeted workers who were leaders in the union or were outspoken in their support of workers’ rights. Navarro, a member of the bargaining committee and one of the most senior members of the organization, said that after she filed a grievance regarding seniority being improperly applied in the layoff process, she was told by management that because she had only been a paralegal for two years, she wasn’t considered a senior employee.
“They want to get rid of a percentage of the people who are in the union,” she said. “They’re trying to weaken the union as much as they can.”
Haro has been at the organization
for nine years and was one of the first union organizers at Make the Road. At least two other members of the bargaining committee were included in the layoffs.
“They have used this crisis that they created by expanding at the top to get rid of people that they saw as troublesome,” Haro insisted. “I almost feel bad for getting some of them involved in the union because that definitely resulted in them being put on the layoff list.”
Union members have continued to file grievances and staged a rally outside of the Roosevelt Avenue community Center on May 28 to call attention to the layoffs.
A spokesperson for Make the Road did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement provided to the Queens Daily Eagle, the organization said that laid-off staff would receive severance packages and that salaries for the organization’s executive directors would be cut by 10 percent.
“Make the Road New York has made the painful decision to decrease our staff size and implement
layoffs than any budgetary issues, pointing to the expensive office which opened earlier this year and the more than $313,000 in raises the union says the organization’s top executives recently received.
“If they knew that the organization was in a deficit, why did they give the top 13 managers raises?” Mendoza questioned. According to the union’s calculations, those raises account for far more than the salaries of at least 5 employees who are being laid off, each of whom make just over $40,000 a year.
She also questioned why management would certify the collective bargaining agreement just days before the layoffs if the purpose was anything other than to neutralize the possibility of a strike and to bust the union. The contract that workers secured came after more than three years of bargaining and included raises, expanded benefits and increased job security.
But many of the leaders of the union won’t be able to reap the benefits they worked for.
operational cost saving measures in order to maintain the long-term resilience of the organization and its ability to serve the community for years to come,” the statement says.
“We are committed to treating all of Make the Road’s community with dignity and respect. The organization is proud to have negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that was ratified in early January, and is in regular communication with the Union as we implement this.”
Marilyn Mendoza, an education justice organizer, suggested that mismanagement and union-busting could be more to blame for the
Haro didn’t go into the office on May 30, deciding to work from home instead. Spending the last day of his nine-year tenure at Make the Road in the office that he sees as a representation of executives’ misplaced spending was simply too sad, he said.
“It’s a shame for an organization like this that’s supposed to advocate for the rights of workers and immigrants to behave in this manner, it is shameful, it is sad it is not the right thing,” Haro said. “I am really really concerned about my community because this organization has been a refuge for them, and the executives are not the ones doing the work. I believe in this organization and the executives are making a lot of mistakes that are causing trauma and hardship.”
Bx public hospital midwives OK strike
BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com
Midwives at two public hospitals in the Bronx whose contract expired nearly two years ago have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike after their demands for safe-staffing were ignored, the New York State Nurses Association announced.
Midwives at two NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx, are employed by the Physician Affiliate Group of New York. The workers’ contract expired on June 30, 2023, and negotiations have stalled, according to the union.
Of particular concern to the midwives are high turnover and safe-staffing levels, especially because the Bronx has infant and maternal mortality rates that exceed citywide levels. The infant mortality rate in the Bronx was 5.2 per 1,000 live births, compared to 3.7 per 1,000 live births across New York City, according to data from the state Department of Health.
The union cited studies that found expanding the number of midwives could prevent 41 percent of maternal deaths and 29 percent of neonatal deaths.
During negotiations, NYSNA proposed hiring midwives to improve safe staffing, and urged PAGNY to close the pay disparity between the 50 midwives at the two H+H facilities and other midwives across the city. Currently, the Jacobi and North Central Bronx midwives earn a base salary that is about 14 percent less than midwives at nearby hospitals.
But the union said that PAGNY has refused these proposals, pushing the midwives to authorize a strike, NYSNA announced in a Thursday press release. Among those who voted, 98 percent voted in favor of going on strike, according
to a union spokesperson.
“We are tired of PAGNY dragging its feet at the bargaining table and trying to pass the buck to NYC/ Health+Hospitals. We need both of them at the table to be held accountable for our working conditions and patient care conditions,” said Roxanne Winston, a certified nurse midwife at Jacobi. “We provide care to mothers and birthing people and address a wide range of health concerns that have been left untreated. The ability to offer safe patient care is a question of equity.”
The midwives said the current staffing levels have put pressure on them to handle too many patients at once, and that many of their patients are high-risk, have chronic health conditions or are immigrants who don’t speak English.
“My colleagues and I stay here because we love the work that we do. And we are asking for simple things so that we can continue to do so,” Kinikia S. Reid, a certified nurse midwife at Jacobi, said in a statement. “We want more midwives, so that we can provide better care. We want pay parity with neighboring facilities. And we want respect for the work we do. Midwives see striking as a last resort, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to provide quality care to families in the Bronx.”
The union has not yet submitted a 10-day strike notice to the hospital. PAGNY did not immediately return a request for comment.
Nancy Hagans, NYSNA’s president, noted that both the midwives and their patients “deserve respect.”
“They deserve a fair contract that will keep midwives at the bedside, serving some of the most vulnerable patients in the Bronx and in our city,” she said in a statement. “The public system must invest in midwifery and improving health outcomes for pregnant patients and families in the Bronx.”
Courtesy of UAW Local 2320
Workers at Make the Road New York protest the layoffs of 22 union members outside of the immigrant rights organization’s state of the art Queens community center. Workers allege that the layoffs targeted outspoken union leaders and supporters.
AFGE locals rally against proposed VA cuts
But agency rep says it’s ‘in dire need of reform’
BY STERLING SEWELL
The Chief
Members of three American Federation for Government Employees locals rallied outside the Veterans Administration hospital on East 23rd Street last week to protest a Trump administration plan to fire tens of thousands of VA staffers, saying the layoffs would compromise care for veterans.
An internal memo from the VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, in March called for a return to 2019 staffing levels, when the VA numbered about 400,000 employees. The memo cited a “Department-wide review of mission, organization, and structure” called for by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The VA employed about 479,000 workers as of early February. The Biden administration expanded the VA under the 2022 PACT Act, which broadened care and benefits and provided support for veterans injured by burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic material. The proposed staffing reductions, which the memo noted would begin in August, could amount to upwards of 83,000 employees.
“Our veterans serve because they believe in the idea of America and in return we owe them an unbreakable promise, that we will stand by them when they come home,” said Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, who joined national AFGE leadership May 28 in front of the Margaret Cochran Corbin VA Campus on the cool spring afternoon.
“Without a fully staffed and supported VA, our veterans will suffer at the hands of Donald Trump,”
Nadler continued. “Thousands of jobs are at risk, and even more lives hang in the balance.”
This is the second time in two months Nadler has spoken in front of the Kips Bay facility to protest staffing cuts. He spoke at a rally organized by National Nurses United last month.
Timothy McLaughlin, a national representative for AFGE, noted that the VA is already contending with staffing issues. At the end of 2024, the VA reported an estimated 40,000 vacant positions nationwide.
In February, the VA dismissed a total of 2,400 employees in two rounds of layoffs. In March, many of these employees were reinstated as a result of court orders from two federal judges.
“We already struggle to provide care,” McLaughlin said. “That’s only going to get worse.”
High level of care
A VA spokesperson called claims that the department is shortstaffed “very misleading.”
“VA employs nearly 470,000 people and has a historical vacancy rate of about 9 percent — that means at any given moment in time, VA probably has about 40,000 open positions due to natural turnover,” Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement.
The Trump administration, he added, “inherited a VA that is in dire need of reform,” arguing that while the department’s spending increased by “tens of billions” during the Biden administration, the VA’s performance dipped, noting benefits backlogs, rising wait times and significant problems with survivor benefits.
“We owe it to America’s Veterans to take a close look at VA — how it’s currently functioning and whether current policies are leading to the
best outcomes for Veterans. That is precisely what we are doing,” Kasperowicz said.
Despite those challenges, VA hospital quality is ranked higher nationally than non-VA hospitals, according to an annual Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rating. According to a patient satisfaction survey from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, VA hospitals have higher satisfaction ratings on average than non-VA hospitals.
That level of care not only benefits veterans but Americans as a whole, said Dr. Kendrick Roberson, an AFGE national vice president. Roberson alluded to training provided to new medical workers at VA hospitals and the innovations that come out of the federal facilities.
“The work that the federal workers at the VA do is actually so incredibly important that it boosts America as a whole,” Roberson said at the rally. “If you let this administration tell it they would have us believe that the VA does not provide this elite level of care.”
Vanessa Barrow, secretary with AFGE Local 862, which represents VA employees in Brooklyn and Manhattan, emphasized the importance of every VA employee’s contributions. “We need to make people realize that they can’t cut jobs at the VA. All jobs are essential,” Barrow said. “Everybody adds to the equation to make the hospital run.”
Barrow added that she is concerned that the cuts could be used to politically target the VA.
“I feel when they do that they are setting the VA up to fail, because then they’re going to say, ‘Well look, they’re not performing how they should,’” Barrow said. “Of course we’re not, because if you’re gonna cut 83,000 positions how can you expect an appropriately run facility?”
Many veterans were in attendance at the rally, and roughly one in four VA employees are veterans.
DC 37 retirees demand end to administratorship
Association regained taxexempt status in February BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com
Members of the District Council 37 Retirees Association are calling on the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to put an end to the association’s administratorship.
The Retirees Association, which represents more than 25,000 DC 37 retirees, was placed under an emergency administratorship and its officers were suspended in February 2024. Ann Widger, the international retirees director for AFSCME who was appointed administrator of the Retirees Association, said at the time that the organization had failed to file tax returns for the previous six years and had lost its tax-exempt status.
The Retirees Association submitted the deficient tax documents last year, and on Feb. 13, the Internal Revenue Service sent a letter to the association informing the organization that it had regained its tax-exempt status, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Chief.
Ahead of a monthly membership meeting, about a dozen retirees gathered outside of DC 37’s headquarters at 125 Barclay St. May 29 and urged AFSCME President Lee Saunders to lift the receivership.
“The administratorship should end, it should never have started. There was no reason, we were never in financial difficulty,” said Ed Hysyk, who served as the Retirees Association president from 2018 until 2022.
Many retirees believe the tax issue was merely a pretext for the administratorship, and that it was imposed because of the association’s contributions to an organization fighting the city’s effort to switch retired municipal workers’ health-care coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan, a move sanctioned by Municipal Labor Committee, which DC 37 is part of, and also by the union’s leadership. Prior to the takeover, the Retirees Association made $2,000 monthly payments to the NYC Organization of Retired Public Servants, which has been battling the city on the Medicare issue.
“This has nothing to do with the fact that we temporarily lost our IRS non-profit status, it has to do with health care,” Hysyk said. “And the reason they have [the adminis-
tratorship] is to prevent us simply from helping to fund the cost of the lawsuits against DC 37 and the City of New York when it comes to our health care. If it wasn’t for this issue, we never would have been in administratorship.”
Neal Frumkin, the association’s former vice-president for interunion relations, noted that the Retirees Association had $3.7 million in its bank account before the administratorship started.
“There’s a lot of unions that have issues with their taxes and weren’t put into receivership. We were, because of the fight against Medicare Advantage,” he said.
A few DC 37 locals — including Locals 1070, 957, 1597, 1655 and 924 — were reported to have lost their tax-exempt status, some for nearly 10 years, according to the IRS.
AFSCME did not allege any financial wrongdoings when the administratorship was imposed.
John Haridsty, who served as the association’s secretary-treasurer, noted that AFSCME audited every year of the RA’s finances and “they did not find one nickel out of place.”
Bob Pfefferman, also a former treasurer of the association, noted that while IRS compliance is important “it’s essentially a paperwork issue.”
“There were lots of ways that AFSCME could have handled this. They chose the nuclear option, which was to take over the association,” he said.
The retirees were uncertain of what next steps will take place once the receivership is lifted — such as whether the association will elect new officers — but they noted that the RA’s previous constitution was repealed. Frumkin said that several changes to the constitution have been proposed, including a decrease in the number of officers as well as the elimination of some subchapters, including three in Florida.
AFSCME did not immediately return a request for comment.
Michelle Keller, a retiree who worked for the city for 45 years, called for the retirees to be able to fully participate in the association once more. “AFSCME, what are we waiting for?” she asked. Frumkin noted that members have not been able to speak during RA membership meetings since the administratorship was imposed.
“Get this association back in the hands of retirees. We insist that retirees will, and should, control the Retirees Association going forward,” he said.
The NYPD later detained at least 14 protestors who had attempted to block the vans leaving the courthouse — presumably carrying the detained migrants — from leaving the building.
“People are afraid, people are watching the news. Multiple people who have gone to immigration court have been taken away from their communities,” Cortes said just hours before the arrests took place.
“People don’t want to show up.”
Santos Mateo, a delivery worker, said at the rally that he was given 14 tickets in one evening of work and despite paying them off, was detained for 28 hours because the NYPD’s system incorrectly noted that he hadn’t yet paid what was owed. Some police officers had also incorrectly told workers that they could pay off the C-summonses virtually, when in fact they were obligated to show up to court, Mateo and Cortes said.
The NYPD has yet to return Mateo’s bike, which officers impounded when he was arrested. “I’m not a criminal, I’m a delivery worker,” Mateo said in Spanish at the rally.
“All we’re doing is going out every day to work and putting food on the table for our families.”
Asked about the new policy, an NYPD spokesperson replied with a link to a May 14 New York Post oped by Commissioner Jessica Tisch in which she defended the policy change. Tisch wrote that e-bikes are “fast, heavy and can be extremely dangerous,” and that traffic viola-
tions by e-bike riders needed to be more serious to keep roadways and sidewalks safer. Officers are focusing on enforcement in 14 high-traffic e-bike corridors at peak morning and evening hours, she wrote.
“The only objective here is the elimination of hazardous e-bike operation and the restoration of safety and order on our streets and sidewalks,” Tisch wrote. “We cannot tolerate these vehicles speeding through traffic, running red lights, ignoring stop signs, driving on the sidewalk and careening through crosswalks. This is common sense, it is our job, and it is exactly what New York City expects from its police department.”
During an April press conference, Tisch also said that complaints about e-bikes being ridden out of control or on sidewalks are “one of the largest pieces of feedback that I get from New Yorkers.” Leadership of Make the Road New York, Transportation Alternatives and several other immigration and bike advocacy organizations, as well as several progressive City Council members, said last Wednesday that given the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, now was the worst time to increase penalties on a largely immigrant workforce.
Workers held a sign at the rally reading “WE ARE WORKERS NOT CRIMINALS” in both English and Spanish
“They’re trying to respond to the demands for street safety by criminalizing workers,” Guallpa insisted.
“This is a way to scapegoat the solutions the city really needs.”
Joe Bello, a Navy veteran and the founder of NY MetroVets, also spoke out against the impending layoffs. “I have been using the Manhattan VA for two decades, and I love this hospital,” Bello said. “And I’m not the only one who loves it.”
Crystal Lewis/The Chief Former officers and members of District Council 37’s Retirees Association held
a press conference May 29 outside the union’s Barclay Street headquarters urging the association’s international union to end the administratorship it imposed over a year ago.
Sterling Sewell/The Chief
Veterans and advocates rallied in front of the Margaret Cochran Corbin VA Campus on May 28 to protest a Trump administration proposal to fire tens of thousands of Department of Veterans Affairs staffers.
The flaw of creativity
To The ediTor: In 2014, the Municipal Labor Committee approved the conveyance of $1 billion from the Health Stabilization Fund to pay for employee raises.
Defending the robbing of Peter to pay Paul, Harry Nespoli, the chair of the MLC, told the Daily News: “we had to get creative and at the same time not hurt the city’s finances…. We finally have a management that’s willing to bargain with us fairly.” Fast forward 11 years. The fund was used as a piggy bank and is depleted. We now have the spectacle of the MLC suing management over who owes $4 billion in promised health benefit savings. The chickens have come home to roost. So much for innovation.
(Another irony is that the city wants arbitrator Martin Scheinman to resolve the dispute. The MLC is crying foul, though they were perfectly happy when he recommended a Medicare Advantage provider for retirees — Aetna.)
Meanwhile, the Office of Labor Relations has disclosed a new employee health benefit program. The original request for information (RFI) sought a provider to “reduce the cost of delivering healthcare by at least 10%” and desired
“creative ideas.”
If past is prologue and the city will promise quality health care for less money, employees should be very, very concerned (and read the fine print). First they came for the retirees
Harry Weiner
Bad-faith bargain
To The ediTor:
Going back to July 2011, Andrew Cuomo has had an anti-worker record. That’s when, as governor, he used the threat of layoffs to get state workers to accept a five-year contract that included a three-year wage freeze, increased healthcare costs and a nine-day furlough.
While claiming the cost savings from that contract were necessary, he refused to extend a millionaires’ tax that brought in $4 billion. He claimed he was raising the tax rate on those earning over $2 million. But without the surcharge, their tax rate fell from 8.97 percent to 8.87 percent.
State Senator Jessica Ramos has a record of introducing and supporting bills that are pro-worker and pro-affordable housing. So why are so many unions supporting Cuomo and ignoring Ramos? Then why are so many unions siding with Mayor Eric Adams’ at-
tempts to force Medicare Advantage on New York City retirees? We seem to be in need of union leaders who are actually for workers, both active and retired.
Richard Warren
Salary referee?
To The ediTor:
Arbitration ended a labor dispute between city officials and its nurses two years ago. The issues on the table were pay parity, understaffing and high staff turnover rates. The 8,000 nurses won a contract that addressed those issues and included the largest wage increase in NYC public sector nurse history.
Roughly 4,400 FDNY emergency medical technicians and medics have similar issues. High turnover rates result in staff shortages. Without sufficient staff, the FDNY needs overtime to put ambulances on the road. In the fiscal year 2024, EMS OT totaled $57 million.
Overtime costs continually grow. In 2020, the NYC Independent Budget Office reported that between 2017 and 2020, overtime costs for FDNY EMS staff had risen more than 40 percent. The same report noted that for every 100 EMS vacancies, 27 ambulance tours could not run without overtime.
On most days this year, less than 80 percent of FDNY ambulances targeted for service were running. Response times to life-threatening medical emergencies remain too long, with the resultant costs to patients’ health and survival, and to emergency responders’ mental well-being.
EMS’ high staff migration to the FDNY’s other “first responder” service, firefighting, is due to lack of pay parity between the services.
The transfer of many, whose career goal is firefighting, not emergency medicine, is facilitated by a route open only to its EMS, putting them ahead of the general public in hiring. The IBO reported that via this system, out of an EMS workforce of about 4,400, roughly “1,400 FDNY emergency medical personnel opt(ed) to become FDNY firefighters from 2013 through 2019.” By 2023, 900 EMS staff had transferred to firefighting. “Promoted,” lacking prior firefighting training or experience, their pay expanded exponentially. Another exodus from EMS to firefighting is expected this year. Is arbitration also EMS’ route to pay parity?
Helen Northmore
Taxing solutions
To The ediTor:
For 45 years, a war has been raging. It doesn’t involve bombs, drones or jet fighters. The war is a sustained battle over the nation’s wealth between workers and billionaires. The richest few deploy tax cuts, deregulation and anti-labor policies in this lopsided conflict; well-paid lobbyists and self-serving politicians serve as their foot soldiers.
Billionaires have led a very successful campaign. The Pew Research Center calculated that the middle-class share of U.S. wealth dropped from 62 percent to 42 percent between 1971 and 2022, while the upper-income share went from 29 percent to 50 percent; the top 1 percent now hold 31 percent of national wealth.
This upward redistribution of wealth began in earnest under Ronald Reagan’s supply-side policies.
President Trump’s partisan “big, beautiful bill” promises to further siphon wealth from the working poor to the rich.
The CBO analyzed the BBB’s impacts on debt and income, determining that debt would increase $3.8 trillion while Medicaid and SNAP are cut by $698 billion and $267 billion, respectively. Incomes among the top decile (tenth) rise by 10 percent, through lower taxes, over the next 10 years, while incomes for the bottom decile drop by 14 percent due to the aforementioned cuts. The CBO also estimates $78 billion in spending would shift from the federal government to the states, putting further pressure on already stretched local budgets.
As is often the case, there are traitors. Abigail Disney, along with 259 other wealthy individuals, signed-on to “Proud to Pay More,” an organization that lobbies for increased taxes on the well-off. Unfortunately, tens of millions of working class Americans also cross the battle lines when they repeatedly vote for supply-side Republicans.
Joseph Cannisi
Absolution
To The ediTor:
Donald Trump is considering pardoning the men who were convicted of attempting to start a civil war and kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, apparently because Trump is being pressured by some Trump supporters who consider the paramilitary gang, the Wolverine Watchmen, patriots. Most of them pleaded guilty, some were found guilty after trial while
BY CARTER MYERS-BROWN
At the end of April, Mark Carney was elected prime minister of Canada, securing the fourth straight term for the Liberal Party. His victory follows a prolonged collapse of confidence in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party and a surging far-right populism under Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Carney’s win, while modest in ideological scope, is notable for what it represents: a national rejection of Trump-style bombast and a search for stable leadership during a period of economic aggression and rhetorical hostility from the United States.
The campaign unfolded against the backdrop of a sharp rightward shift in Canada’s political landscape. As recently as January, Poilievre’s Conservative Party led the polls by 25 points and made significant inroads into working-class strongholds long held by the New Democratic Party (NDP), including Hamilton and Windsor. The NDP’s vote count dropped from 3 million to just 1.2 million, reflecting a dramatic wave of class dealignment. Working-class voters, disillusioned with a stagnant status quo and failed center-left promises, increasingly turned to faux-populist messaging that spoke — however disingenuously — to their economic anxieties.
Both Carney and Poilievre attempted to redefine Canadian patriotism as a bulwark against Trump. But it was Poilievre, a representative from oil-rich Alberta, who most explicitly modeled his rhetoric on Trump’s, railing against “radical woke ideology” and promising to slash public programs.
His messaging was potent — until Trump’s own words and policies became too extreme to ignore. In February, Trump announced a sweeping new round of tariffs on Canadian goods: 25 percent across the board, with higher rates on key industries like steel, aluminum, automobiles and energy. These tariffs, paired with escalating threats — including Trump’s claim that Canada should become America’s 51st state — ignited a nationalist backlash in Canada that ultimately doomed Poilievre’s campaign. Carney, by contrast, positioned himself as a sober technocrat: competent, unflappable and internationally respected. Having led the Bank of Canada through the Great Recession and later served as governor of the Bank of England during
Brexit, Carney was already known for managing economic crises. In this election, he promised to defend Canadian sovereignty with retaliatory tariffs, a $2 billion fund for the auto sector, and new trade diversification strategies. More than any specific policy, Carney offered a break from the spectacle — an image of Canada as calm, resilient and economically independent.
The trade war initiated by Trump, however, is not just a bilateral skirmish. It represents a deeper fracture in North American politics.
The U.S. and Canada have long been bound by a network of trade agreements, beginning with the 1965 Auto Pact and evolving through NAFTA and its successor, the USMCA.
Yet in 1988, Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney set Canada on a path of integration with the United States when he and then-President Ronald Reagan worked out a new free trade agreement. The Liberals branded it the “Sale of Canada Act,” arguing the nation would yield its sovereignty. In 2024, the two countries exchanged $762 billion in goods. Canada is the leading source of U.S. crude oil and natural gas, and its
auto parts and resources are deeply embedded in American supply chains. The imposition of tariffs not only disrupts this integration, but also undermines decades of cooperative economic governance.
Trump’s decision to target Canada has triggered retaliatory measures and cultural backlash. American goods are being boycotted. Crowds booed the U.S. national anthem at hockey games and vice versa. Carney declared that Canada was experiencing “the most significant crisis of our lives” and would need to reorient to the rest of the world.
His proposed solution rests on familiar liberal strategies: infrastructure investment, diplomatic engagement with Europe, and tighter integration into global trade networks. Significantly, Carney made his first foreign visits as prime minister to Britain and France, signaling a pivot toward transatlantic partnerships.
If Carney could direct a reparation of Atlanticism, torn asunder by Trump, this could have stabilizing effects on democracy in the international order. He has called the trade war an “opportunity to build
a new Canadian economy,” promising investments in health infrastructure, trade corridors and digital networks — $20 billion over four years. Another $18 billion has been earmarked for defense, including plans to expand military infrastructure in the Arctic as climate change opens new shipping lanes and strategic vulnerabilities. But these strategies carry risk. Carney’s plan for international diversification includes mending trade relations with China and India — countries where democratic norms and labor protections remain tenuous. If economic realignment is reduced to technocratic hedging and bilateral deals, it risks entrenching global capital while ignoring the workers caught in its gears. While Canada seeks alternatives to U.S. dominance, it cannot afford to replicate the same extractive, top-down economic logic elsewhere. Domestically, Carney’s economic philosophy is one of cautious optimism rooted in market orthodoxy. His plan to stimulate private investment through capital surpluses and modest public spending reflects the same logic that has dominated liberal policymaking for decades.
Yet that logic has failed to address the structural grievances that drive working-class alienation: stagnant wages, unaffordable housing and precarious employment. The NDP’s collapse reflects this disconnect. Unless the left can offer a material politics rooted in class solidarity, it will be eclipsed by nationalist Trump-replicants like Poilievre, who weaponize frustration into political gain.
Though Carney has signaled he will stand up to Trump, the effect of Trump’s trade wars will damage the U.S economy. Some estimates suggest the U.S. could lose over 200,000 jobs across agriculture, manufacturing and retail as costs rise and global supply chains fracture. Small businesses — nearly half of the U.S. workforce — will struggle with increased borrowing rates, inflationary pressures and diminished consumer demand.
Thus, despite instituting retaliatory tariffs against the U.S, Carney declared he will be cautionary, stating if Canada’s response is too severe it could hurt Canadian workers.
To rebuild a stable international order and protect democratic sovereignty, democratic societies may need to look beyond managerial expertise. Technocratic governance, while often competent, is unlikely to fully address the social and economic dislocations that fuel movements like Trumpism. Instead, there is a growing case for stronger cross-border coalitions among workers — alliances that can advocate for fairer wages, climate resilience, digital rights and more equitable trade rules.
Such efforts would benefit from public institutions capable of balancing market forces: public banks, cooperative utilities and industrial strategies that prioritize labor interests rather than simply incentivizing private capital.
Carney’s election offers meaningful insights for the U.S. and its allies. His victory suggests that right-wing populism is not inevitable, and that a steady, liberal appeal can still win broad support. At the same time, it underscores the limitations of centrist politics in an age marked by deep inequality. Carney may help stabilize Canada in the near term, but absent a broader rethinking of economic priorities, his leadership may not fully address the grievances that have made figures like Trump — and Poilievre — so resonant.
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP
A Liberal Party supporter waited for party leader Mark Carney to hold a rally beside the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, on April 26, two days before federal elections installed Carney as prime minister.
Cuomo, Mamdani secure more labor endorsements in race’s closing weeks
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
With less than two weeks to go until the start of early voting in the Democratic primary for mayor, union endorsements have continued to pour in for front-runner Andrew Cuomo and his closest challenger, ascendant Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani.
While the coveted endorsement from the United Federation of Teachers has yet to be announced, other smaller unions in both the private and public sectors have made their preferences known.
Last week, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Amalgamated Transit Union all threw their support behind Cuomo in the lead up to a campaign rally where the former governor announced his plan to raise the city’s minimum wage to $20 by 2027.
New York City for all,” the union leader said.
Cuomo has received the support of all the unions representing uniformed workers at the FDNY, as well as from Local 1199 and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union.
Mamdani, who’s pushing for a $30 minimum wage by 2030, last week received nods from Teamsters Local 804, the Committee of Interns and Residents and had his support reaffirmed by United Auto Workers Region 9A which released their ranked-choice ballot guide.
cent, the poll found.
Aaron Eisenberg, political director of UAW Region 9A, said Monday that Mamdani “has the most momentum from our members and in the race in general.” The union first endorsed Mamdani in December, when he was polling in the single digits.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Continued from Page 4
law is a blueprint for authoritarianism. Invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act during peacetime to deport immigrants, including those with legal standing, is an abuse of executive power. A number of courts have found this to be the case in decisions that often have been ignored by the administration.
This act is legal only during “a declared war between the United States and any foreign national or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion.” Under this act, there is no due process, a constitutional right granted even to non-citizens. Furthermore, to target immigrants for deportation because they protest Israeli policies and support Palestinian rights is a clear violation of the First Amendment.
THE CHIEF-LEADER, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
Robert Newell, the president of Local 1500, said in a statement that Cuomo “has consistently put working people first.”
“He’s the proven leader we need to tackle the affordability crisis, and we look forward to working with him to build a safer, more affordable
George Herbert Walker Bush had to replace the first African American, Thurgood Marshall. He looked all over the country and the “most-qualified” was Clarence Thomas, also an African-American? Of course not. Clarence Thomas is an African-American conservative and he got the gig.
sense in this country. We have never had an African-American woman on the court. Biden will not be selecting a cashier from Stop-and-Shop or a pilates instructor from the local sports club. He will select a highly educated, highly credentialed woman who attended a top college, top law school, clerked for a Justice, served on the Federal appellate court and all the other “credentials” deemed necessary in this day and age for a Justice.
Mamdani also received a first-place ranking from the left-leaning Working Families Party late last week on a ranked slate nearly identical to the UAW’s.
The UAW’s international president, Shawn Fain, also threw his support behind Mamdani, saying in a statement Monday that the Assembly Member “has stood shoulder to shoulder with us in our fight against some of the toughest bosses in New York City” and been to “countless” UAW picket lines across the city.
Letters to the Editor
just a few were found not guilty. Considering the unforgivable and treasonous pardons given the January 6 traitors who attacked the Capitol, leading to the death of five police officers, and tried to kill Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, I wonder if the criminal prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs is worth the cost and the trouble. If Combs contributes millions of dollars to Donald Trump and said nice things about him, is there any doubt that Trump would consider a pardon for Combs? In addition, both Trump and Combs have shown little respect for women so they have something in common. Why would anyone want to be on a jury in a trial with a defendant who supported Trump or had the big bucks to buy a pardon? Maybe Congress should expand the president’s pardon power so he could pre-pardon his supporters before they are convicted, or even before they are charged. It would save a lot of time and money.
Michael J. Gorman
Audacity to Criticize Molina
The Queens assembly member has been trending upwards and claimed second behind Cuomo in a most recent survey of registered voters, conducted May 23-26 by Emerson College Polling Center in collaboration with PIX11 and The Hill.
To the Editor:
Mamdani announced May 30 that the 20,000-member Committee of Interns and Residents, part of the Service Employees International Union, endorsed him as well.
Independence day
To The ediTor:
The poll found Mamdani getting 22.7 percent of the vote in the first round of ranked-choice voting — from just 1 percent in February — while 35.1 percent selected Cuomo. In the final round, Cuomo bests Mamdani 54.5 percent to 45.6 per-
On Feb 19, the NY Daily News published an article entitled, “As NYC Correction Commissioner Molina cleans house, critics worry he’s coddling jail unions.”
Whether it’s a newly
THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication. Correspondents must include their names, addresses and phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with years of been Justices the more have women is 4 over decision to African-Amerhe we qualified comical if ignoJobs the and What an President for selectblue-ribbon apconfirm or politicontext is Ronto woman immedifrom find obvious1991,
“Zohran understands that the people doing the work — nurses, residents, techs, janitors — need to be at the table,” Dr. Sotirios Karathanasis, a pathology resident at Bellevue and member of CIRSEIU said. “That’s the kind of leadership New York needs.”
Early voting for the Democratic primary runs from June 14 to 22. Election Day is June 24.
should be seen for what they are. They are idiotic political theater from a cohort that sees even a tiny effort at progress as threatening the white male position in society.
Vincent Scala is a former Bronx Assistant District Attorney. He is currently a criminal-defense attorney in New York City and its suburbs. Hypocrisy
BY BARRY LISAK
additional deduction because she is 70 years old. Her standard deduction for 2021 is $14,250 ($12,550, the standard deduction for 2021, plus $1,700, the 2021 additional standard deduction for the singles who are over 65 or blind).
Example 2
The limits apply to the combined amount of loans used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s main home and second home. Additionally, the TCJA suspends from 2018 to 2025 the deduction for interest paid on home-equity loans and lines of credit, unless they are used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s home that secures the loan. The following examples illustrate these points.
In 2021, Nicole and her spouse are joint filers. Both qualify for an additional standard deduction because they are both over 65. Their Form 1040 standard deduction is $27,800 ($25,100, the 2021 standard deduction for joint filers, plus 2 x $1,350, the 2021 additional standard deduction for married persons who are over 65 or blind).
The above examples reflect the benefit of the new standard deduction. Millions of taxpayers won’t be itemizing this year to reduce their Federal income-tax bill. They’ll claim the standard deduction instead.
Example 1: In January 2025, David took out a $500,000 mortgage to purchase a main home with a fair market value of $800,000. In February 2025, the taxpayer took out a $250,000 home-equity loan to put an addition on the main home. Both loans are secured by the main home and the total does not exceed $750,000, all of the interest paid on the loans is deductible. However, if David used the home-equity-loan proceeds for personal expenses, such as paying off student loans and credit cards, then the interest on the home-equity loans would not be deductible.
Barry Lisak is an IRS Enrolled Agent, meaning that he has passed special U.S. Treasury Department exams that qualify him to represent clients dealing with audits or tax-resolution cases. Any questions can be directed to him at (516) TAX-SAVE, or
is questioning Molina’s personnel decisions.
How is it that Schiraldi, a so-called juvenile-justice reformer and expert, failed so miserably in managing DOC?
How is it that Oren Varnai, the head of DOC’s Intelligence Bureau and a “former covert officer in the CIA,” could not stop the scourge of gang violence from dominating and ravaging Rikers? Varnai, at least, must be commended for wishing Molina success, and I must say he has impressive credentials.
How does Sarena Townsend, the Deputy Commissioner for Investigations and a former prosecutor who preferred departmental charges on thousands of uniformed staff—resulting in scores if not hundreds of correction officers being fired or forced to resign—now cries foul when she gets fired ?
Example 2: In January 2025, Jill took out a $500,000 mortgage to purchase a main home. The loan is secured by the main home. In February 2025, she took out a $250,000 loan to purchase a vacation home. The loan is secured by the vacation home. Because the total amount of both mortgages does not exceed $750,000, all of the interest paid on both mortgages is deductible. However, if Jill took out a $250,000 home-equity loan on the main home to purchase the vacation home, then the interest on the home-equity loan would not be deductible.
Schiraldi praises his managers who created a “war room” to redeploy staff on an emergency basis. That “war room” should have also been utilized to generate and implement new policy to stop the devastating inmate violence that inflicted pain and suffering on officers and inmates alike.
Further, the now-garrulous Schiraldi was speechless when the unions continuously sounded the alarm regarding chaos, bedlam, lawlessness and gross mismanagement by top bosses.
Example 3: In January 2025, Alex took out a $500,000 mortgage to purchase a main home. The loan is secured by the main home. In February 2025, Alex took out a $500,000 loan to purchase a vacation home. The loan is secured by the vacation home. Because the total amount of both mortgages exceeds $750,000, not all of the interest paid on the mortgages is deductible. A percentage of the total interest is deductible.
operate with reasonable and necessary treatment from qualified and competent authorities have to be treated the same way—prison or secure mental facilities.
Tax provisions in
budget bill
Only those homeless who cooperate with those who provide necessary treatment, and can live peacefully with others, should be placed in housing in the neighborhoods in all five boroughs of the city.
I don’t care about what Bruce Springsteen — or any other multimillionaire celebrity who doesn’t worry about paying for the necessities of life — has to say about President Trump (“No Surrender,” Letters, The Chief, May 30). When a celebrity endorses a product or service, I don’t buy it. When a celebrity discusses a politician, I ignore it. What did Springsteen accomplish? Did he say anything about Trump we haven’t heard ad nauseum and ad infinitum? Can his presumably mostly British audience lobby Congress for impeachment? Vote him out of office? Alter any of his initiatives? Springsteen and his fellow A-listers arguably helped Harris lose by giving Americans the perception that the Democrats are out-oftouch elitists. Is Trump’s presidency going to cease because of Springsteen?
Netanyahu’s assault on international humanitarian law, in response to the genocidal attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has undermined the quest for international justice that separates civilization from barbarism. By midMarch, Israel had walked away from the stalemated ceasefire negotiations with Hamas. It renewed both attacks on Gaza and a total blockade of food, water and medicine. This has resulted in mass starvation of 2.1 million people, while indiscriminate bombing has killed thousands of Palestinian men, women and children. Howard Elterman
Error-strewn
To The ediTor: Jake Tapper, a CNN anchor, is being accused of treason by both conservatives and progressives. He’s been compared to Benedict Arnold for allegedly seeking personal gain.
Tapper was aware of former President Joe Biden’s mental health issues but chose to downplay them until he could profit from his book, “Original Sin: Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
on 1/28/2022. Office loc.: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address SSNY shall mail process to Joseph S. LaRosa, 238 Wiman Ave., Staten Island, NY 10308. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 031422-1 3/18/22-4/22/22
Disagree as I might with Mr. Gorman, the letter writer, his service to this country at arguably the height of a bitter, divisive war give him extra stature and credibility to criticize Trump. What gives Springsteen more credibility than your “average” citizen? Strumming a guitar and singing about the “average man/woman?”
At home and abroad
To The ediTor:
A CERTAIN VALOR LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/28/22. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 52 E. 4th Street, Apartment 11, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 030722-3 3/18/22-4/22/22
Nat Weiner
In another short story, the White House and its media allies condemned the February 2024 report by Robert Hur, who investigated whether Biden had committed a crime by taking home box loads of classified documents. Hur conducted a five-hour interview with Biden over two days and concluded that no criminal charges should be filed, as a a sympathetic, elderly man with poor memory would not be convicted.
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Not a day, week or month has gone by in which the Trump administration hasn’t violated the Constitution, federal laws and ethical standards. Nor has a day, week or month gone by in which the Netanyahu administration, our close ally whom our aid enables, hasn’t violated international humanitarian law in Gaza and the other occupied territories.
For counseling, testing, medical evaluation, and case presentation call: DIAGNOSTIC and COUNSELING SERVICES, (212) 924-9281 or (631) 765-2905
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enforcement
Trump’s assault on the rule of
This decision angered Americans who had endured hardships during Biden’s presidency. Despite Biden’s apparent mental decline, the Democratic Party wanted him to serve another four years until voters realized he lacked the mental capacity to lead effectively. Pinch hitter Kamala Harris ascended to the batting position to replace the incapacitated Joe Biden without a competitive nominating process. Regrettably, Harris was unable to get on base. But that’s another storyline!
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF RAMFAM LOGISTICS LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on February 25, 2022. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is 530 E. 159th Street, Apt # 6, Bronx, NY 10451. The principal business address of the LLC is 530 E. 159th Street, Apt # 6, Bronx, NY 10451. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity. 031122-1 3/18/22-4/22/22
Robert Sica
MICHAEL J. GORMAN
On May 9, Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York’s budget bill for the 2026 fiscal year. The key tax provisions are below:
• The budget enacts a one-time inflation refund check. Specifically, joint filers with income up to $150,000 will receive a $400 check and joint filers with income over $150,000 but no greater than $300,000 will receive a $300 check. Single tax filers with income up to $75,000 will receive a $200 check and single filers with incomes over $75,000 but no greater than $150,000 will receive a $150 check.
Skeptical of Union ‘Health’
To the Editor: The proposed New York Health Act would provide on a statewide level what Medicare-for-All would provide nationwide. Yet in recent issues, it has been claimed that the reason some unions oppose this is because the medical plans they already have provide benefits that this proposal would not include.
Filers will not have to do anything to receive the refund. If a tax return was filed reporting income below the thresholds, the refund check will be issued automatically.
• The state’s first five tax brackets are cut by 20 basis points (0.2 percent) each year over two years, thus providing a reduced tax rate for joint filers up to $323,000.
• The state’s temporary high income surcharge rate is extended for five years.
Commissioner Molina is addressing all those issues. Neither Schiraldi, nor any of his senior managers, have the credibility or standing to criticize Molina.
Now as a retired transit worker, I have always had good health coverage since I started working for the system in 1979. But one friend who was an excellent Transport Workers Union Local 100 rep had serious health issues before he recently passed away. He had a stroke while he was still working, and had to fight numerous large bills for medical care that was supposed to be covered. I remember him saying, “I have great coverage as long as I don’t get sick.”
For more information, see IRS Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.
I submit Schiraldi is envious of Molina’s working relationship with the unions and doesn’t want him to succeed.
Barry Lisak is an IRS enrolled agent specializing in personal and small business taxes for 30 years. Any questions can be directed to him at 516-829-7283, or mrbarrytax@aol. com.
However, Molina must persevere and continue to “clean house” in DOC, as Schiraldi wallows in his failure and slowly fades away into obscurity.
MARC BULLARO
• The child tax credit is expanded for three years by increasing the maximum credit from $330 to $1,000 for children under age four and $500 for children four through 16. The restrictive earned income requirement was eliminated, thereby allowing families who earn up to $170,000 to receive the credit. Additionally, the budget extends many credits such as the clean heating fuel credit, alternative fuels credit and electric vehicle credit, workers with disabilities credit and the hire a veteran credit, among others.
Under the New York Health Act, patients would not have to worry about fighting bills. They would not even have to worry if they were unemployed or in a job that did not provide health insurance.
— Barry Lisak
So what exactly are these great benefits that are provided by some union-negotiated plans that would not be provided by the New York Health Act?
RICHARD WARREN
Retired transit worker
BARRY LISAK
Reagan, Bush Picks
VINCENT SCALA
Andrew Cuomo for Mayor
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo at a recent campaign event where he announced his intent to push for a $20 an hour minimum wage if elected mayor.
UFT: Mulgrew wins 6th term
Continued from Page 1
Nearly 29 percent of 201,791 eligible voters cast a ballot, according to posted results on the union’s webpage. A total of 58,318 ballots were returned, representing a 15-percent increase in the vote compared with the 2022 election. Mulgrew’s margin of victory, however, was his lowest since his first run in 2010. His next-lowest percentage happened three years ago when he received 66.3 percent to Camille Eterno’s 33.4 percent. In 2016, when Mulgrew last faced off against two slates, he received 76 percent of the vote.
The vote, which took place over several weeks and concluded May 29, was overseen by Global Election Services. It is expected to be certified within the next few days. Swisher, whose ARISE slate formed earlier this year when three established caucuses within the UFT — New Action, Retiree Advocate and MORE (Movement of Rank and File Educators) — joined together, said that she was extremely proud of their campaign.
“Numerically, we did not win, but we won in many ways,” Swisher said during a phone interview. She noted that the ARISE slate had pushed Unity to take more progressive steps, such as adopting a campaign promise to obtain 12 weeks of paid family leave for UFT members.
“We were able to push our union to create a member action committee to respond to Trump’s executive orders,” she said, adding that bringing members together was especially important given the attacks on public education under the current administration. “For us, it’s not just about Mulgrew and Unity, it’s about doing things in different ways.”
Swisher, who has been teaching in city public schools for six years and is chapter leader at MS 821 Sunset Park Prep in Brooklyn,
‘Numerically, we did not win, but we won in many ways.’
— ARISE Caucus’ Olivia Swisher
added that she hopes that because Unity “won by such a narrow margin, I hope they do see that members want something different and that they’ll listen to our demands.”
Even though ARISE didn’t win, “the work doesn’t stop,” Swisher noted. “We’re going to be leading more organizer training. We’ve been doing this for decades and we’re going to continue to do so.”
In a post on Substack, A Better Contract wrote ahead of the ballot count that “This campaign was never just about winning an election. It was, and is, a movement to reclaim our union’s purpose: power in the hands of members and the space to exercise it.”
Steve Swieciki, who ran for vice-president of academic high schools for A Better Contract, said he was encouraged by the vote breakdown.
“In 2019, Mulgrew got 86 percent of the vote. In just two elections, they lost 30 percent of the vote share, which is pretty significant,” the social studies teacher said during a phone interview.
Swieciki believed that Unity has been “feeling the heat” over the last year, after losing leadership of the Retired Teachers and paraprofessional chapters. “I was very proud to run with A Better Contract, and I’m proud of the fact that we gave people a real choice. Unity better not rest on their laurels, because we’re coming for them.”
Arundell, a longtime teacher who for 21 years served as a union representative, had sued the union in April claiming that the UFT’s plan to allow in-person voting at a number of events violated the union’s constitution. The suit claimed the in-person voting plan — which permitted balloting at the UFT’s district offices, at the union’s delegate assembly meeting, two awards ceremonies and the union’s annual spring conference — was “heavily skewed towards getting members to vote who favor the Unity Caucus.”
New York State Supreme Court Judge David Cohen dismissed Arundell’s petition in late April.
The UFT represents most of the nonsupervisory educators in the New York City public schools, among them about 75,000 teachers, 25,000 classroom paraprofessionals and several other titles, including school secretaries, school counselors and occupational and physical therapists.
5 Amtrak workers admit participation in $11 million health benefit fraud
BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com
Five area Amtrak employees who participated in a widespread multi-million-dollar scam to defraud the railroad’s health benefit plan have pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy counts that could net them a decade behind bars, Department of Justice officials in New Jersey announced. The quintet admitted to scheming with health-care providers for more than three years, reaping cash kickbacks in exchange for allowing their benefits plan to get billed for care that was never necessary or provided, the feds said.
They were part of a extensive racket that operated for as long as five years and involved at least 119 Amtrak employees, according to Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General. An OIG report in early May detailed how the workers conspired to bilk Amtrak’s health care plan of more than $12 million in what it characterized as the largest Amtrak employee criminal conspiracy in the national railroad’s history.
The implicated workers were based in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., Amtrak said.
Kevin Frink, 53, of Willingboro, New Jersey, was the most recent rail worker to plead guilty in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Michael Toal, 35, of Hazlet, New Jersey; David McBrien, 37, of Levittown, Pennsylvania; Damany Walker, 41, of Irvington, New Jersey: and David Lonergan, 65, of Rockaway Park, New York, in recent weeks also pleaded guilty before before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to the conspiracy count, DOJ officials said.
According to the indictment, handed down in June 2024, the five along with their co-conspirators helped squeeze millions in fraudulent claims from the railroad’s
CALENDAROFEVENTS
health care plan. All five received thousands of dollars for their collusion with an acupuncturist, a medical doctor and a podiatrist.
The health care fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Walker’s and McBrien’s sentencings are scheduled for July 24; Lonergan’s for Aug. 20; Frink’s for Oct. 9; and Toal’s for Oct. 23.
The acupuncturist, Punson Figueroa, aka “Susie,” 58, of Long Island City, was sentenced last September to 34 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Figueroa recruited dozens of rail workers by paying them cash in exchange for their personal and insurance information, and occasionally that of their dependents, which she used to submit false and fraudulent claims, the feds said.
$9 million worth of needles
The investigation began after an agent with Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General spotted unusual billing patterns in reports from OIG data analysts. Those led analysts to “questionable billings” from three health care providers, all of whom had several Amtrak employees as patients.
An undercover law enforcement agent masquerading as an Amtrak worker then met with Figueroa in June 2021 in one of the acupuncturist’s New York offices, where she in-
structed the agent to sign his name about 30 times on forms documenting bogus treatment, according to the DOJ. She told the agent to not date the signatures. Figueroa then submitted the sham claims to Amtrak’s health care plan, indicating that the undercover agent had visited providers at least seven times in May 2021 for acupuncture and physical therapy services. The agent returned to Figueroa’s office in July of that year, where she handed the agent an envelope filled with $1,000. The acupuncturist then continued to use the agent’s information to submit dozens of additional fraudulent claims to the health care plan, the feds said. In total, Figueroa caused Amtrak to pay out over $9 million in false and fraudulent insurance claims. In addition to sentencing her to the prison term, Arleo ordered her to pay back $9.05 million.
A New Jersey MD who also conspired to swindle the health plan, Muhammad Mirza, was sentenced to 26 months in May 2024 after pleading to the conspiracy count. Mirza, 51, of of Cedar Grove, N.J., in collaboration with Amtrak workers, billed the railroad’s health plan more than $1.3 million over a period of more than five years starting in April 2017, according to DOJ officials in New Jersey.
The podiatrist, Michael DeNicola, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, among other offenses. His sentencing remains pending.
was no longer just a possibility, but “a real and looming threat to the quality and accessibility of care for hundreds of thousands of municipal workers, retirees, and their families.”
He implored municipal workers who are union members to “demand better.”
“Leadership must be held accountable — not just for these decisions, but for the secrecy and spin used to sell them. They gaslight us saying they’ve averted healthcare premiums while slamming us with more out-of-pocket costs and ‘backdoor premiums,’” he wrote.
City officials, citing the ongoing procurement effort, declined to release the pending agreement.
In response to a question as to whether the proposal would limit options, including by instituting “tiered copays” for care at top and preferred institutions, a City Hall spokesperson said the contract is still being negotiated.
The city estimates that about 25 percent of municipal employees would remain in their current plans, including HIP-HMO and MetroPlus plans, neither of which requires employee premiums.
According to the MLC’s letter, the joint Emblem-UnitedHealthcare bid beat out one from Aetna, following revised bids. A committee of five representatives from the city and five from the MLC received presentations from both finalists in early April. The committee then sent follow-up questions to each finalist be-
fore the committee selected the joint Emblem-UnitedHealthcare bid.
“This is great news for our members who work for the City of New York. We’ve navigated a challenging road to get to this point, but the result is the tentative selection of a new health plan that will allow us to increase the quality and access of benefits for our members while reining in predatory costs and remaining premium-free,” Henry Garrido, the executive director of District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal union, said in a statement.
Garrido, who is also co-chair of the MLC, has been a prime advocate of shifting some 250,000 municipal retirees into a privately administered, for-profit Medicare Advantage plan, which Adams administration officials have said would save the city about $600 million a year. Those savings would help replenish a Joint Health Insurance Premium Stabilization Fund, which props up municipal unions’ health and welfare-fund benefits and is managed by city and union officials.
That effort, initiated during the de Blasio administration, has stalled, however, with courts and judges concluding that the switch, opposed by retirees and their advocates, would run counter to assurances made by city officials to city workers and would-be workers decades ago.
The state’s highest court will likely have the last word on the matter. Both sides presented their final arguments before the Court of Appeals in May.
WORKFORCE UNDER FIRE
TSA collective bargaining agreement, a Trump target, preserved for now
Judge grants preliminary injunction protecting contract
BY MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press
A federal judge on Monday grant-
ed a preliminary injunction to stop Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from killing a collective bargaining agreement for Transportation Safety Administration workers.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of Seattle said in her order that an injunction is needed to preserve the rights and benefits that TSA workers have enjoyed for years while being represented by the
American Federation of Government Employees. In their lawsuit, Pechman said, the union has shown that Noem’s directive to end the agreement “constitutes impermissible retaliation against it for its unwillingness to acquiesce to the Trump Administration’s assault on federal workers.” It also likely violated due process and AFGE is likely to succeed in showing that Noem’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” she added.
“Today’s court decision is a crucial victory for federal workers and the rule of law,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a release. “The preliminary injunction underscores the unconstitutional nature of DHS’s attack on
TSA officers’ First Amendment rights. We remain committed to ensuring our members’ rights and dignity are protected, and we will not back down from defending our members’ rights against unlawful union busting.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kipnis declined to comment on the judge’s ruling, according to Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
AFGE had entered into a new, seven-year collective bargaining agreement with agency last May, but Noem issued a memo Feb. 27 rescinding that agreement. One week later, TSA informed the union about Noem’s directive, saying the contract was terminated and all pending grievances would be deleted.
AFGE filed a lawsuit against Noem, claiming the move was retaliation against the union for pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers.
AFGE had filed a separate lawsuit Feb. 19 against the Office of Personnel Management to stop the firing of probationary workers. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 27 stopping the firings — the same day Noem issued her memo.
Abigail Carter, representing AFGE during oral arguments before Pechman on May 27, said Noem’s move was retaliation and a violation of the union’s First Amendment right to protected speech and its Fifth Amendment right to due process.
“The administration has made it
clear that if you don’t disagree with it politically, you and your members can keep your rights, but if you do disagree, you lose them,” Carter said. She also argued that the collective bargaining agreement was necessary because TSA workers are not covered under the federal labor-management code. The agreement protects them from dangerous working conditions and unreasonable hours.
Kipnis denied the retaliation claim and said it was simply a difference in management styles. Pechman questioned that contention. Not all unions are banned by the administration, Pechman said, only the ones oppose the administration.
Turmoil, worry swirl over cuts to key federal agencies as hurricane season gets underway
Weathering reductions at FEMA, NOAA
BY SETH BORENSTEIN and GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA Associated Press
With predictions for a busy hurricane season now underway, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes.
Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since President Donald Trump took office at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks and forecasts them.
“My nightmare is a major catastrophic storm hitting an area that is reeling from the impact of all of this nonsense from the Trump administration and people will die. And that could happen in Florida, that could happen in Texas, that could happen in South Carolina,” said Susan Cutter, the director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina.
Representatives of both NOAA and FEMA say the agencies are prepared.
About 2,000 full-time staff have left FEMA since Trump took office in January, a loss of roughly onethird of the agency’s full-time workforce, amid Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mandated cuts. Scholars who study emergency management are concerned by both the reduction in capacity and the “brain drain” of experienced staff.
Experts: DOGE cuts diminish FEMA
“There’s really been a brain drain within FEMA in addition to the loss of overall employees,” said Samantha Montano, who teaches emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She noted that many who left were in critical management positions.
The agency is run by an acting chief, David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served overseas and worked as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. He does not appear to have any experience in managing disasters. Emergency management requires knowing where to get things, who to call, how things work and how to get it done quickly — which comes from experience and establishing relationships with state officials, Montano and Cutter said.
What’s happening reminds former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate of 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina
devastated Louisiana and exposed inexperienced and poorly prepared governments at all levels, especially the then-FEMA chief who came from a horse-rearing association.
Fugate said he’s especially worried about top experienced disaster people leaving FEMA.
FEMA canceled various emergency management trainings this spring, moved others online and restricted travel to events such as the National Hurricane Conference.
Some trainings have resumed.
“Given the reduction in staffing,
being unable to do trainings, participate in conferences, there’s potential that the federal government’s ability is diminished,’’ said former Florida Emergency Management chief Bryan Koon, now president of the disaster preparedness firm IEM.
FEMA has also cut disaster resilience programs. Making areas more survivable saves up to $13 for every dollar spent, said Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado.
The federal government promises to be ready for hurricane season,
which runs through November.
“FEMA is shifting from bloated DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” Associate FEMA Administrator Geoff Harbaugh said in a email. “FEMA is fully activated in preparation for hurricane season.”
Richardson promised to push more responsibilities to the states. He warned that the agency will only do what the law requires and shift more costs to states.
But Koon noted that states haven’t budgeted for FEMA’s changes, adding: “The biggest issue right now is just the uncertainty.”
Some states — which coordinate disaster operations — are experienced in catastrophes, have welltrained staff and will do fine, such as Texas and Florida, Fugate said. But it’s the poorer states that worry the experts.
The feds often pick up the entire bill in big disasters and most of it in smaller ones. In the Trump administration, disaster declarations have been denied or delayed. When disaster declarations were issued for nine states last week, some had been pending for two months and others were only partially approved.
“We’ve just relied on FEMA for so much for so long and not knowing who’s going to fill the gap and how we’re going to fill it is really scary,” said University at Albany emergency management professor Jeannette Sutton.
statement thereof being attached hereto, of the Public Administrator of the County of New York as administrator of the goods, chattels and credits of said deceased, should not be granted: (i) that her account be judicially settled; (ii) that a hearing be held to determine the identity of the distributees at which time proof pursuant to SCPA § 2225 may be presented, or in the alternative, that the balance of the funds be deposited with the Commissioner of Finance of the City of New York for the benefit of the decedent’s unknown distributees; (iii) that the Surrogate approve the reasonable amount of compensation as reported in Schedules C and C-1 of the account of proceedings to the attorney for the petitioner for legal expenses rendered to the petitioner herein; (iv) that the persons above mentioned and all necessary and proper persons be cited to show cause why such relief should not be granted; (v) that an order be granted pursuant to SCPA §307 where required or directed; and (vi) for such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper. HON. RITA MELLA Surrogate Dated, Attested and Sealed. May 22, 2025 (Seal) Diana Sanabria Chief Clerk Opell Law P.C. Counsel to the Public Administrator, New York County 11 Park Place, Suite 1008 New York, New York 10007 (212) 896-3310 Note: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to appear it will be assumed that you do not object to the relief requested. You have the right to have an attorney-atlaw appear for you and you or your attorney may request a copy of the full account from the petitioner or petitioner’s attorney. 052725-1 6/6/25-6/27/25
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF 11th Design & Technology, LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/18/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is 254 Front Street, #6A,
County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/8/25. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 28 Liberty St, NY, NY 10005. DE address of LLC: 131 Continental Dr., Ste 305, Newark, DE 19713. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St, Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. 052925-5 6/6/25-7/11/25
Notice of Qualification of MASCARENE PARTNERS HOLDINGS LP. The fictitious name is MASCARENE PARTNERS HOLDINGS L.P. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/13/25. Office location: New York County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/8/25. SSNY is designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 28 Liberty St, NY, NY 10005. DE address of LP: 131 Continental Dr., Ste 305, Newark, DE 19713. List of names and addresses of all general partners available from SSNY. Cert. of Limited Partnership filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St, Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. 052925-6 6/6/25-7/11/25
Notice of Formation of LIFE UNLOCKED LLC. Arts. of Org.
process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. Purpose: Consulting services. 052925-3 6/6/25-7/11/25
FIND YOUR PATH PSYCHOLOGY PLLC, a Prof. LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/24/2025. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The PLLC, 220 5th Ave, 11th Floor, NY, NY 10001. Purpose: To Practice The Profession Of Psychology. 052725-2 6/6/25-7/11/25
Notice is hereby given that an OnPremise Restaurant Full Liquor License, NYS Application ID: NA0340-25-113822 has been applied for by RestaurantBar321 LLC d/b/a Siberia serving beer, wine, cider and liquor to be sold at retail for on premises consumption in a restaurant, for the premises located at Turnstyle Market 1000 S. 8th Avenue New York NY 10019. 052725-4 6/6/25-6/13/25
Notice is hereby given that an OnPremise Catering
FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUNTY OF BRONX. SUMMONS. File: 272226, Docket No. B-5524-25. In the Matter of YIANA DIAMOND MASON A/K/A YIANA MASON, A dependent child, under the age of 14 years, to the custody of Saint Dominic’s Family Services, alleged to be an abandoned child, pursuant to Section 384-b of the Social Services Law. In the Name of the People of the State of New York TO: APRIL ANETTE GLOVER A/K/A APRIL GLOVER and PAUL VERNON MASON A/K/A PAUL MASON. A verified Petition having been filed in the Court alleging that the above-named child in the care of Saint Dominic’s Family Services, the petitioner, is an abandoned child, as defined by Article 6, Part 1 of the Family Court Act and Section 384b of the Social Services Law; YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before the Family Court at 900 Sheridan Ave., Bronx, New York, Part 14, on the 16th day of July, 2025 before the Hon. Pamela Scheininger, at 12:00 in the afternoon of said day, or virtually via the following link: https://notify.nycourts.gov/ meet/0k5g1b, or by phone at: 1-347378-4143, conference ID: 834896189#, to show cause why the Court should not enter an Order depriving you of all the rights of custody of YIANA DIAMOND MASON A/K/A YIANA MASON, awarding the custody of said child to the petitioning authorized agency as an abandoned child, as provided by law. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that if said child is adjudged to be an abandoned child, and if custody is awarded to said authorized agency, said child may be adopted with the consent of said agency and without further notice to you and without your consent. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that your failure to appear will result in the termination of all your parental rights to the child. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that your failure to appear shall constitute a denial of interest in the child, which denial may result in the transfer or commitment of the child’s care, custody, guardianship or adoption of the child, all without further notice to the parents of the child. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that you are entitled to be represented by an attorney and, if you cannot afford to retain an attorney, one will be appointed to represent you by the Court free of charge to you. Dated: March 18, 2025. By Order of the Court, Danielle Vialet, Clerk, Family Court, Bronx County. 052925-4 6/6/25
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo
Dustin Holmes holds hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, as they returned to their flooded home with her children Aria Skye Hall, 7, and Kyle Ross, 4, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Sept. 27, 2024, in Crystal River, Fla.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services established a 609-name list for Investigator on April 16, 2025. The list is based on Exam 2083, which was recently held. Readers should note that eligible lists change over their four-year life as candidates are added, removed, reinstated, or rescored. The list shown below is accurate as of the date of establishment but list standings can change as a result of appeals.
Some scores are prefixed by the letters v, d, p, s and r. The letter “v” designates a credit given to an honorably discharged veteran who has served during time of war. The letter “d” designates a credit given to an honorably discharged veteran who was disabled in combat. The letter “p” designates a “legacy credit” for a candidate whose parent died while engaged in the discharge of duties as a NYC Police Officer or Firefighter. The letter “s” designates a “legacy credit” for being the sibling of a Police Officer or Firefighter who was killed in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Finally, the letter “r” designates a resident of New York City.
UPCOMING EXAMS LEADING TO JOBS
Below is a roundup of New York City and State exams leading to public-service positions. Most of the jobs listed are located in the New York Metropolitan area and upstate.
There are residency requirements for many New York City jobs and for state law-enforcement positions.
Prospective applicants are advised to write or call the appropriate office to make sure they meet the qualifications needed to apply for an exam. For jobs for which no written tests are given, candidates will be rated on education and experience, or by oral tests or performance exams.
DCAS Computer-based Testing and Application Centers (CTACs) have re-opened to the public. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, walk-ins are no longer accepted and appointments must be scheduled online through OASys for eligible list or examination related inquiries.
All examination and eligible list related notifications will be sent by email only, you will no longer receive notifications via the US mail.
All new hires must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, unless they have been granted a reasonable accommodation for religion or disability. If you are offered city employment, this requirement must be met by your date of hire, unless a reasonable accommodation for exemption is received and approved by the hiring agency.
For further information about where to apply to civil service exams and jobs, visit the thechief.org/exams.
The Federal Government has decentralized its personnel operations and holds few exams on a national or regional basis. Most Federal vacancies are filled by individual agencies based on education-and-experience evaluations. For information, contact the U.S. Office of Personnel Management or individual agencies, or see www.usajobs.gov.
5004 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Community Health) $96,274$118,479
5005 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Family Health) $96,274-$118,479
5006 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Gerontology) $96,274-$118,479
5007 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Neonatology) $96,274-$118,479
5008 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Obstetrics/Gynecology) $96,274$118,479
5009 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Oncology)
$96,274-$118,479
5010 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Palliative Care) $96,274-$118,479
Cytotechnologist I $74,114$99,744
7094 CR(D) Cytotechnologist II $83,915$118,479
7095 CR(D) Cytotechnologist III $106,880-$144,480 61-639 CR Librarian I 60-180 CR Librarian I, Bilingual (Spanish Speaking)
5263 CR(D) Medical Technologist I $79,212-$91,619
5002 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Acute Care) $96,274-$118,479
5003 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Adult Health) $96,274-$118,479
5011 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Pediatrics)
$96,274-$118,479
5012 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Perinatology) $96,274-$118,479
5013 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Psychiatry) $96,274-$118,479
5014 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Women’s Health) $96,274-$118,479
3138 CR(D) Occupational Therapist Assistant $43,176 -$81,760; NHCC: $55,373-$78,048
7288 CR(D) Occupational Therapist/ Occupational Therapist I $63,872$97,339; NHCC: $77,054-$108,876
3139 CR(D) Pharmacist I $102,320$128,481
3140 CR(D) Physical Therapist Assistant $43,176-$81,670; NHCC: $55,373$78,048
9030 CR(D) Physical Therapist/Physical Therapist I $63,872-$97,339; NHCC: $82,754-$108,876
9029 CR(D) Physician Assistant I $91,225-$128,481
8049 CR(D) Radiologic Technologist (General) $68,620-$84,507
SUFFOLK COUNTY EXAMS
➤ CLOSE JULY 23
Senior Office Assistant (Spanish Speaking) $45,419-$54,932 0026 Senior Office Assistant $41,704$50,000
Police Operations Aide $37,793
Police Operations Aide (Spanish Speaking) $37,793
for 4 jobs
INSPECTOR (CONSTRUCTION)–23 eligi-
between Nos. 4 and 84 on
3019 for 1
in
VEHICLE OPERATOR–287 eligibles (Nos. 1-287) on List 8321 for 5 jobs in Department of Correction. PAINTER–98 eligibles between Nos. 45 and 281 on List 2084 for 5 jobs in Police Department.
AIDE–464 eligibles (Nos. 1-464) on List 4070 for 20 jobs at Queens District Attorney’s office.
SPECIAL CONSULTANT (MENTAL HEALTH STANDARDS AND SERVICES)–23 eligibles between Nos. 88 and 258 on List 1177 for 4 jobs in DOHMH.
PROMOTION
ADMINISTRATIVE PARK AND RECREATION MANAGER–169 eligibles between Nos. 1 and 171 on List 4505 for 10 jobs in Department of Parks and Recreation.
AUTO MECHANIC–7 eligibles between Nos. 1 and 10 on List 3538 for 7 jobs in NYPD.
CAPTAIN (FIRE)–315 eligibles between Nos. 69 and 637 on List 1551 for 100 jobs in Fire Department.
CAR APPEARANCE SUPERVISOR (CAR EQUIPMENT)–150 eligibles between Nos. 1 and 154 on List 3712 for 50 jobs at NYC Transit.
PRINCIPAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCI-
various traffic control devices such as signs, stanchions, supports, pavement markers, bus stop informational signs, citywide bus stop regulation signs, and traffic counters. They also operate, maintain and make minor adjustments to a broad range of motor vehicles and equipment, including marking machines, air compressors, pavement breakers, snowplows and other essential field and shop tools. TDMs will be required to perform manual labor in loading and unloading trucks, the placement of traffic devices, work at varying heights, climb and work from ladders, and work in tower and bucket trucks. Their assignments may include removing traffic obstructions and operating vehicles.
They may be required to work nights, weekends, holidays and extended shifts in various weather conditions. These positions require compliance with all agency safety rules and regulations to ensure a
secure work environment, including the proper use and wearing of safety equipment and gear on work sites.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Successful applicants will have either 1) Two years of full-time satisfactory experience using hand and/ or power tools to assemble, repair, maintain and/or install mechanical and/or electrical devices; 2) A fouryear high school diploma or its educational equivalent and one year of full-time satisfactory experience as described in “1” above; 3) Graduation from an approved four-year trade, technical or vocational high school with a mechanical or electrical major; or 4) At least one year of full-time satisfactory experience as described in “1” above plus sufficient training in the mechanical or electrical field acquired in an approved trade, technical or vocational high school to make up the equivalent of the remaining required experience. Six months of accept-
able experience will be credited for each year of such training. Preference will be given to candidates holding an unrestricted Class B commercial driver’s license. Candidates should demonstrate advanced proficiency with mechanical and electrical tools, power devices and related equipment as well as possess basic computer skills. New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, city employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for two continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland or Orange counties. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.
For complete information on the position, including on how to apply, go to https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/job/ traffic-device-maintainer-tce-in-nycall-boros-jid-25681
LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD
Trump pardons NY labor union leader
On the eve of sentencing for failing to report gifts
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
A labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from an advertising firm was pardoned by President Donald Trump on the eve of his sentencing hearing last week, court records show.
James Callahan, of Lindenhurst, New York, was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted — but failed to properly report — receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes was scheduled to sentence Callahan on May 28. On Tuesday, however, Callahan’s attorneys notified the court of Trump’s “full and unconditional” pardon and asked for the sentencing hearing to be vacated.
The pardon itself doesn’t specify why Trump granted him clemency. The White House didn’t explain why Trump pardoned Callahan, whose union endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection over Trump in 2023. Callahan signed a letter that explained the endorsement.
The judge said she was “quite disappointed” to learn of Callahan’s pardon after he accepted responsibility for his criminal conduct, according to a transcript of Wednesday’s hearing.
“I don’t know why you were pardoned,” she said. “You weren’t pardoned because you were wrongfully convicted. You pled guilty to the misdemeanors. You weren’t pardoned because you were missentenced. Sentencing hadn’t even occurred. You weren’t pardoned because the law was somehow unfair, either in general or to you.” Earlier this month, prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six months for Callahan, calling him “one of the most powerful union leaders in the country.” They said Callahan’s salary and other compensation topped $500,000 annually. Now retired and living in Florida, he has a net worth of more than $5 million, according to prosecutors.
“That the Operating Engineers were unknowingly funding Defendant Callahan’s spree of pricey entertainments — a lifestyle his substantial salary could easily accommodate — is especially condemning,” they wrote.
Reyes told Callahan that, at a minimum, she would have sentenced him to 500 hours of community service.
“I can’t force you to do community hours. I can’t sentence you to them. But you can do them. No one’s going to stop you from doing them. You want to take your lumps? Do the hours,” she added. Callahan declined to address the judge apart from saying that he “heard every word you said.”
Callahan’s plea agreement required him to repay the union $315,000 for the tickets and to immediately resign as union president.
“Those tickets and amenities properly belonged to the Operating Engineers, and yet Defendant Callahan used many of those tickets personally and provided other tickets to members of his family and persons who were not members of the Operating Engineers,” prosecutors wrote.
The Washington-based union that Callahan led represents nearly 400,000 heavy machinery operators on construction and industrial sites throughout the U.S. and Canada.
More GOP states embrace paid parental leave for public workers
Conservatives are championing familyfriendly workplace policies as ‘pro-life’ measures
BY ANNA CLAIRE VOLLERS Stateline.org
More Republican-led states are giving paid parental leave to public school teachers and other state employees, signaling a broader acceptance of family-friendly workplace policies once championed primarily by Democrats.
“All of these red states, I think we’re late to the party,” said South Carolina state Representative Beth Bernstein, a Democrat who sponsored a bill this year to increase state employees’ paid parental leave from six to 12 weeks. It passed the majority-Republican South Carolina House in April with strong bipartisan support.
This year, Alabama, Iowa and Mississippi joined 37 other states in granting paid parental leave to thousands of state workers.
The trend has gathered steam in recent years. Some experts link it to the cascade of state abortion bans that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which dismantled the federal right to abortion. Under fire from critics to do more to care for babies once they’re born, at least a dozen conservative-led states with abortion bans have since granted or expanded paid parental leave for their state employees.
But others say the increasing bipartisan support for measures that help working parents is also a reaction to economic realities.
“What we’ve seen, especially in more conservative states, is the public sector has experienced a lot of turnover,” said Kameron Dawson, legal director of the Southern Office of A Better Balance, a legal organization focused on workplace rights. “They’re looking for tools to recruit younger employees.”
Paid parental leave is the time off granted to workers for the birth or adoption of a baby, to care for a child, or to recover from a stillbirth or miscarriage. Without it, employees are left to cobble together their sick leave and vacation leave — or go unpaid — to stay home with a child and heal.
Alabama Republican state Representative Ginny Shaver watched her daughter, a public school teacher, struggle to get the leave she needed after the births of her children in recent years.
“With her second, she had complications in her pregnancy and used up her [paid vacation and sick] leave before she even had the baby,” Shaver told Stateline. Her daughter contracted Covid, and the baby had to spend time in neonatal intensive care. “It was a very difficult time, and she had to take unpaid leave.”
Last year, Shaver and Democratic state Senator Vivian Figures worked to win approval of a paid parental leave bill for state employees. It failed.
But they tried again this year. With the support of Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, the state legislature — which has a Republican supermajority — passed it nearly unanimously. The new law gives female state employees, including teachers, eight weeks of paid parental leave in connection with birth, stillbirth or miscarriage, and gives male employees two weeks. Adoptive parents get eight weeks for one parent and two for the other.
Keeping talent
Shaver said she thinks the law passed thanks to vocal support from the governor and increased awareness of the issue due to the work she and Figures did in previous sessions.
“And the fact that all of the southeast states around us offered it,” Shaver said. “We’re trying to attract and retain state employees and teachers, and we’re in competition with everyone around us, and the private sector as well.”
For many Republicans, the work-
force development argument for paid leave is a persuasive one. For states such as Alabama and South Carolina that have some of the lowest workforce participation rates in the nation, paid leave can be a tool to keep more people — particularly women — working. And it can be a way to retain educators as many states struggle with teacher shortages in K-12 schools.
“For several years we’ve seen state legislatures acknowledging the importance of child care to businesses and the economy,” said Feroza Freeland, policy director at the Southern Office of A Better Balance. “But in the last few years, we’ve seen a growing recognition that paid leave is another piece of that puzzle.”
States have taken up the issue because the federal government has not. The United States is a global outlier; among 38 peer nations, it’s the only one that doesn’t mandate paid parental leave, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. The group comprises 38 democracies with market-based economies.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993 and extended in 2020, only requires public agencies and companies with at least 50 employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for parents of newborns or newly adopted children, or caregivers of sick family members.
During his first term, President Donald Trump publicly supported some forms of paid family leave and signed a defense bill that gives 12 weeks of paid parental leave to most federal employees.
Paid family leave was a signature issue for his daughter Ivanka Trump, at the time a senior adviser to the president. She even held a paid leave and child care summit at the White House in late 2019. Stateline, founded in 1998, provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy.
CEO pay rose nearly 10% in 2024
Exec-worker pay ratio higher in industries where wages are typically low
BY MAE ANDERSON and PAUL HARLOFF Associated Press
The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 10 percent in 2024 as the stock market enjoyed another banner year and corporate profits rose sharply.
Many companies have heeded calls from shareholders to tie CEO compensation more closely to performance. As a result, a large proportion of pay packages consist of stock awards, which the CEO often can’t cash in for years, if at all, unless the company meets certain targets, typically a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits.
The Associated Press’ CEO compensation survey, which uses data analyzed for The AP by Equilar, included pay data for 344 executives at S&P 500 companies who have served at least two full consecutive fiscal years at their companies, which filed proxy statements between Jan. 1 and April 30.
A good year at the top
The median pay package for CEOs rose to $17.1 million, up 9.7 percent. Meanwhile, the median employee at companies in the survey earned $85,419, reflecting a 1.7 percent increase year over year.
CEOs had to navigate sticky inflation and relatively high interest rates last year, as well as declining consumer confidence. But the economy also provided some tail winds: Consumers kept spending despite their misgivings about the economy; inflation did subside somewhat; the Fed lowered interest rates; and the job market stayed strong. The stock market’s main benchmark, the S&P 500, rose more than 23 percent last year. Profits for companies in the index rose more than 9 percent.
“2024 was expected to be a strong year, so the (nearly) 10 percent increases are commensurate with the timing of the pay decisions,” said
Dan Laddin, a partner at Compensation Advisory Partners.
Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies, said there have been some recent “long-overdue” increases in worker pay, especially for those at the bottom of the wage scale. But she said too many workers in the world’s richest countries still struggle to pay their bills.
Rick Smith, the founder and CEO of Axon Enterprises, topped the survey with a pay package valued at $164.5 million. Axon, which makes Taser stun guns and body cameras, saw revenue grow more than 30 percent for three straight years and posted record annual net income of $377 million in 2024. Axon’s shares more than doubled last year after rising more than 50 percent in 2023.
Almost all of Smith’s pay package consists of stock awards, which he can only receive if the company meets targets tied to its stock price
and operations for the period from 2024 to 2030. Companies are required to assign a value to the stock awards when they are granted.
Other top earners in the survey include Lawrence Culp, CEO of what is now GE Aerospace ($87.4 million), Tim Cook at Apple ($74.6 million), David Gitlin at Carrier Global ($65.6 million) and Ted Sarandos at Netflix ($61.9 million).
The bulk of those pay packages consisted of stock or options awards.
At half the companies in AP’s annual pay survey, it would take the worker at the middle of the company’s pay scale 192 years to make what the CEO did in one. Companies have been required to disclose this so-called pay ratio since 2018. The pay ratio tends to be highest at companies in industries where wages are typically low. For instance, at cruise line company Carnival Corp., its CEO earned nearly 1,300 times the median pay of $16,900 for its workers. McDonald’s
CEO makes about 1,000 times what a worker making the company’s median pay does. Both companies have operations that span numerous countries. Overall, wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers in the U.S. rose 3.6 percent through 2024, according to the Labor Department. The average worker in the U.S. makes $65,460 a year. That figure rises to $92,000 when benefits such as health care and other insurance are included.
“With CEO pay continuing to climb, we still have an enormous problem with excessive pay gaps,” Anderson said. “These huge disparities are not only unfair to lower-level workers who are making significant contributions to company value — they also undercut enterprise effectiveness by lowering employee morale and boosting turnover rates.”
The AP’s Matt Ott and Chris Rugaber contributed.
Steve Karnowski/AP Photo
Dr. Hannah Lichtsinn of Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity holding her 6-year-
old daughter, Linnea, went to the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., in March 2020 to support a bill that would guarantee Minnesota workers the right to paid family and medical leave.
Evan Vucci/AP Photo Apple CEO Tim Cook, who earned $74.6 million in 2024, was among the chief executives paid the most last year. Above, Apple products being assembled at a company manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.