Since 1897
MTA hiring stock workers
CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com
The surge of union organizing that started during the Covid pandemic has persisted — and those efforts have been mostly successful, according to a recent report by CUNY’s School of Labor and Urban Studies.
So far this year, nearly three-quarters of unions that submitted petitions to unionize to the National Labor Relations Board have won their elections. That 73-percent success rate represents a significant increase from 10 and 20 years ago: 62 percent of union drives succeeded in 2014 while just 52 percent prevailed in 2004. The number of election petitions, meanwhile, is the highest it’s been since 2015.
The report, co-authored by Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Joseph van der Naald, a sociology professor at the Graduate Center, cited the tight labor market as an “important driver of the growth in union organizing” for the simple reason that the shortage of workers makes them less fearful of getting terminated for their unionizing efforts.
The growth in organizing has mainly been driven by young, college-educated employees working as journalists, medical residents, graduate workers and adjuncts who are more difficult to replace.
Uptick here to stay?
Milkman believes there are several factors contributing
See ORGANIZING, page 2
Split shifts at Queens UPS facility taxing workers
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
In April, a month before UPS eliminated the overnight sorting shift at its massive hub in Maspeth, Queens, around 120 full-time warehouse workers were given a choice: they could take on fewer hours and become part-timers, move to a different facility or, as around 75 of the workers chose, split their eighthour shifts into two. Since the overnight shift was eliminated on May 10, those 75 workers who previously worked from around 6:30 p.m. into the early morning now must leave their posts around 10 p.m. and return to the facility around 4 a.m. to work four or five more hours.
The workers say the schedule change demands that they put aside 16 hours of their time for only eight hours of paid work, and has robbed them of their sleep, leisure and time with their kids.
“I don’t see my family,” said Carlos Combe, a full-time warehouse worker in Maspeth who’s working split shifts. “People are not getting sleep. Everybody is overtired. People come in late.” Combe comes in for his first shift of the day around 6:30 p.m. in the evening and leaves around 10 p.m. He has a short commute home, but Combe is only able to sleep for a few hours before he has to return around 4 a.m for the second part of his split shift. Roberto Mejia, a 24-year UPSer, decided to take on the split shifts because working at a different facil-
ity would have quadrupled his commute time. But after more than two decades working the same schedule, Mejia has found that he’s completely unable to sleep between his two shifts and gets half as much sleep each day as he did before his schedule changed. He’s lost 10 pounds in the nearly four months he’s been working due to disruptions to his eating habits.
“It’s affected every aspect of my life you could possibly think of,” he said of the schedule change. “It’s a complete disruption of our daily lives.”
Sleeping on-site
Lack of sleep is a widespread issue amongst the workforce taking on split shifts, Combe and Mejia said. Combe, a shop steward in Teamsters Local 804, which represents the workers, hears complaints and grievances from dozens of union members. Since the change was instituted, members come to Combe with concerns about lack of sleep, the schedule and payroll issues.
“Every full-timer is doing it,” he said of the split shifts. “It’s destroying a lot of people’s lives.”
He said that just weeks after the splits started, a full-time warehouse worker fell asleep while driving home from his first of two shifts. The resulting car accident wasn’t serious, and the worker recovered quickly, but Combe said that’s emblematic of the dangers workers face from sleep deprivation.
When the split shifts first started, UPS would close the Maspeth ware-
house after the evening shift ended so that workers wouldn’t stay behind and sleep in break rooms. But in recent weeks, company officials have relented, and some workers now nap inside the warehouse in between shifts. Others sleep in their cars in the parking lot next to the warehouse, union officials said.
Mejia says it’s a simple calculation for workers sleeping on the
work site: staying at work between shifts saves money on gas or bus fare.
“Due to recent operational changes, we offered affected employees a variety of shift options in our NYC-area facilities,” a spokesperson for UPS said in a statement.
“We remain open to discussing other opportunities with these employees and the Teamsters.”
The spokesperson did not directly respond to questions on whether split shifts are being deployed elsewhere in the country and if the company knew about the Maspeth worker’s car accident.
Vinnie Perrone, the president of Teamsters Local 804, which repSee UPS, page 2
The 4th generation union plumber is this year’s Labor Day Parade grand marshal
BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com
Forty years ago, John J. Murphy joined the family trade. Initiated into membership of what was then Local 2 of the United Association, Murphy was following a path trod by his great-grandfather, traveled by his grandfather and, eventually, his own dad: He was an apprentice union plumber. He would work jobs in Battery Park City when the district was being filled out in the 1990s, installing underground piping and also working above ground, fitting water supply lines on new construction. Murphy took to the trade quickly, eventually learning to lay out sleeves for piping. He then went to work for the tech conglomerate Sie-
mens, doing temperature control work. A few years later, he took a city civil service test and became a thermostat repairer, working at City College.
But aside from the trades’ technical aspects, he also had other interests — and aptitudes. “I’m the only one in my family that had an interest in entering union politics. Maybe I could say ‘crazy enough,’” he said during an interview last week.
“I just felt the urge to try to negotiate better, to raise the standard for the plumbers that I worked with. And that’s how I became engaged,” he said. In 1996, at the age of 32, he was elected the local’s recording secretary, the first of the several union positions he has held since then: business agent, financial secretary-treasurer and business manager. In 2016, he was unanimously elected the UA’s international representative for the Northeast region. Reelected to the
UPS: Splits tax workers
resents UPS workers in New York City and Long Island, said the split shifts violate the union’s collective bargaining agreement.
According to the contract agreed to last summer, “the most that [UPS] can give them is a one-and-ahalf-hour break in between shifts, not a four, five, six-hour break,” Perrone said. “It’s disgusting.”
The local has already filed official grievances related to the scheduling practice and hopes to resolve the issue through arbitration, “but that’s a very slow tedious process,” Perrone said. The contract did include measures to speed up the grievance and arbitration process, though.
Perrone added that split-shifts are a nationwide phenomenon. A spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to answer questions about the practice of instituting split shifts, deferring comment to Local 804.
Other cuts
The elimination of the overnight shift is part of a trend of shifting production away from the Maspeth facility and towards automated facilities in New Jersey, Perrone has said. Before the split shifts were instituted, UPS had already elimi-
nated 40 part-time positions at the Maspeth warehouse.
And when warehouse workers in Maspeth moved to other warehouses in the city and on Long Island, part-timers at those facilities were laid off. Phil Martorana, one of the displaced workers from Maspeth, had worked in the facility for 28 years.
But this year he moved to work at a facility on West 43rd Street in Manhattan with 16 of his colleagues to avoid taking on split shifts. “Some of them are making money and don’t even have time to spend it,” Martorana said of the UPSers working split shifts.
UPS has continued to find ways to cut costs this month, closing 14 of the 17 customer counters in warehouses throughout the city, affecting nearly 100 jobs, Perrone said. “These are usually the most senior people in the union” he said, adding that finding other jobs within the union will likely displace younger part-time workers. Mejia hopes that the company reverts to their former schedules soon but recognizes that UPS may have little financial incentive to do so.
“It would have to cause them to lose money for them to change,” he said. “As long as they’re making money, they’re not going to change the shifts.”
Taxi union says city’s deal with Uber, Lyft fails to stop lockouts
BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com
Uber and Lyft drivers say that a recent city agreement with the rideshare companies designed to reduce their restrictions to the app has not prevented them from being removed from the platform for long periods, severely cutting into their income.
“I have been locked out for two weeks now. How am I going to survive?” Alpha Barry, a longtime Lyft driver, said during a Friday press conference condemning the agreement as impractical at best and useless at worst.
The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission requires the rideshare companies to pay drivers a minimum rate per mile and a minimum rate per minute for every trip, which is then divided by the utilization rate — the percentage of time drivers have customers — to determine how much drivers are ultimately paid. Lower utilization rates typically mean that Lyft and Uber must pay the drivers more per mile and per minute.
And for nearly three months, Uber has been locking drivers out of the rideshare app between rides, reducing the amount of time the drivers are being compensated, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the union representing the workers. Lyft began locking out drivers shortly afterwards.
“Some of our members are seeing a loss of 50 percent of their income. Some drivers have reported that they were locked out for three or four hours straight,” Bhairavi Desai, the union’s executive director, said during Friday’s virtual press conference. “Those are all working hours and every single minute should count as your pay.”
Nikoloz Tsulkodze, who has driven for Uber and Lyft for more than five years, said he’s been locked out of the apps four to five times a day. “Last night, Thursday nights, are usually busy. Guess what? I was locked out,” he said. “We want [the lockouts] permanently canceled.”
The drivers’ pay is recalculated every year by the TLC. Locking out drivers will allow the rideshare companies to “manipulate” the amount of time drivers were without passengers, Desai argued.
“Uber and Lyft have basically been gaming the system,” she said.
‘Flouting the law’
In late July, the TLC announced an agreement between Uber and Lyft to “phase out” lockouts by Labor Day if Lyft maintains a utilization rate of at least 50 percent. The companies agreed to stop onboarding new drivers, while Lyft will “minimize” lockouts.
The Taxi Workers Alliance pointed out that the agreement does not actually promise to stop lockouts.
Josh Gold, a spokesperson for Uber, told amNewYork that the company does not expect that Lyft will meet that condition, meaning that Uber will have no “other options” but to continue locking out drivers.
CJ Macklin, a spokesperson for Lyft, said in a statement that “Uber wants to distort the way utilization is measured so only Lyft is penalized, allowing them to monopolize the market. The more Uber restricts drivers from their platform, the more Lyft has to follow suit or risk TLC penalties.” He continued, “We believe the city’s driver pay formula is broken, and no other city uses such a convoluted system. Today, NYC drivers make more per hour when logged on the Lyft platform than in any other city, even without tips and bonuses, but the pay formula is turning rideshare into a luxury only the
most wealthy can afford.”
Taxi Workers Alliance lawyers, the law firm Towards Justice and think tank Open Market Institute sent a joint letter to Mayor Eric Adams blasting the agreement for its failure to protect workers.
“We have serious concerns about your administration’s support for and apparent facilitation of an agreement between Uber and Lyft to coordinate their practice of locking New York City drivers out of the companies’ apps. This agreement is a plain violation of black-letter antitrust law, which prohibits companies colluding over wages and suppressing labor outputs,” the letter, dated Aug. 30, states.
Rather than protecting workers, the city-sanctioned agreement has played into the companies’ hands, the letter says.
“When confronted with the companies’ unfair practice of locking drivers out of their apps to undermine driver pay rules, a practice that has resulted in the outcry of thousands of drivers, the City must strengthen pay rules to protect driver wages and hold the companies accountable. Instead, in this case, you’ve allowed two private companies to collude and flout the law.”
Desai believed the agreement has “only given more leverage to Uber and Lyft to exploit the workers,” and also believed that TLC’s backing of the deal indicates that they will use the “manipulated data.”
The TLC did not immediately return a request for comment.
The union is collecting signatures from its members in support of a strike, which would last at least 24 hours, and plans to hold a rally Wednesday.
ORGANIZING: Wins increase
Continued from Page 1
to the growth of successful unionizing bids, among them that unions are being more selective about which workplaces they organize and a labor-friendly National Labor Relations Board.
“What I thought was the most striking was that a lot of people thought the uptick of organizing in 2022 was because of Covid, but I don’t think that’s going to change,” Milkman said during a phone interview last week. “This has been sustained since Covid, and that wasn’t a given.”
“One thing that’s not going to change is the support young people have for unions,” she added.
A 2023 survey by the AFL-CIO found that a record 88 percent of people under 30 reported being supportive of unions, compared with 71 percent of the overall population who were supportive.
Although organizing efforts at Starbucks have drawn much media attention, between January 2023 and June 2024, 3,472 employees were added to Starbucks Workers Union, a figure far behind other, larger unions.
Nationally, the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers and the Teamsters added the largest number of new members between January 2023 and June 2024, according to the CUNY report. SEIU brought on nearly 31,000 members, while the UAW and Teamsters added nearly 24,000 and 11,632, respectively.
In New York City, the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades added the greatest number of new members, at 3,616, while the UAW added 1,571 members to their ranks and SEIU brought in 847. Last year, UAW Local 7902 organized undergraduate student workers at The New School, while resident physicians at Montefiore Medical Center chose to join the SEIU’s Committee
of Interns and Residents.
Just 8 percent of private-sector organizing efforts were voluntarily sanctioned, according to the report.
Notably, all of the IUJAT’s new members were voluntarily recognized by their employer. Connor Shaw, the union’s political director, explained that the union has been working to organize home healthcare workers, hiring staff translators and reaching out online to try to engage with workers in the field.
“Home health-care workers are difficult to organize because they’re not showing up at one worksite,” he said. “To get voluntary recognition, you need 51 percent of the vote. But because people come and go, we want to make sure we have the support of 65 to 70 percent of the members.” Shaw called organizing “the lifeblood” of any union. “I remember hearing that unions are like a bucket of sand — you’re always losing members,” and that’s why it’s important to always keep adding to their ranks, he said.
“I’m excited about the future of labor,” he said.
But the report made clear that the surge of organizing hasn’t been enough to offset decades of decline in the unionization rate, especially in the private sector. Nationally, just 10 percent of workers were unionized between January 2023 and this June, while in New York City, 19.8 percent of workers belonged to unions. New York State remained the state with the second-highest union density, at 20.6 percent, behind Hawaii’s 24.1 percent. The rate of private-sector workers who were unionized in New York City was 13.5 percent, more than twice the nation’s 6-percent rate. The rate of unionized public-sector workers in the city – 63.1 percent –and in New York
Michel Friang/The Chief
Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, at a March 2021 rally. The union on Friday blasted an agreement between the city and Uber and Lyft it says has failed to protect workers against the companies’ continuing ability to lock out workers from their platforms.
Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Eric Adams and the president of United Probation Officers Association, Dalvanie Powell, at the Aug. 16 announcement of a tentative contract agreement. The union’s rank and file last week overwhelmingly approved the deal. A faction of POs, though, said the agreement shortchanges the officers.
Probation officers overwhelmingly OK new contract
But some department veterans say the agreement is a sham deal
BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com
City probation officers have overwhelmingly approved a contract with pay increases that conform to the civilian pattern but that also contains significant back payments and lump-sum ratification bonuses.
In a high turnout vote held the afternoon of Aug. 28, 430 officers approved the deal, while 97 opposed it, according to the United Probation Officers Association, which represents roughly 400 probation officers and 165 supervising probation officers. Among those opposed to the agreement, though, is a faction of veteran officers who called the deal insulting and a poor reflection of their effort and what is increasingly expected of them. The five-and-a-half year deal, retroactive to November 2020 and running through mid-June 2026, encompasses a cumulative wage bump of 16.26 percent.
The union’s president, Dalvanie Powell, said that while the contract gives members stability and security now and in the coming years, it also provides a foundation for future negotiations.
“I think it’s one of the best contracts we’ve ever had,” she said, noting that the contract outlines steps to top pay. “Now we can say, well, you start here and after 11 years you’ll get a definite amount of money.”
Starting salary for probation officers jumps to $61,386 from $45,934, an increase of about 33 percent, beginning Nov. 28. Top pay in that title reaches $81,000, albeit after those 11 steps. Supervising POs will start at $86,500, with top pay reaching $95,100. Those who would earn above those rates according to the contract’s pattern increases will be kept whole.
Powell, Mayor Eric Adams and the Probation Department said the new salary structure would help replenish a probation officer corps decimated by attrition in recent years. In fact, Powell said she had received calls from recently departed POs who, citing the contract, looked to return to work. “When that contract was announced, people were calling to come back,” she said. Powell said the department was about 200 officers shy of an ideal contingent. She said that because of the shortfall, probation officers’ caseloads were at least double their optimum number.
The department has lost more than a quarter of its probation officers since last year. It counted 392 probation officers as of last month, a year-over-year decline of 27 percent, according to figures provided by the agency.
The title’s ranks, though, have nosedived more than 40 percent since 2020, when probation officers numbered 679. The number of supervisory probation officers, 165, is the same it was last year and has remained steady since 2020. The deal also includes ratification bonuses of $3,600 for probation officer trainees, $4,355 for POs and $5,080 for supervising POs for all UPOA members who were on the active payroll last Wednesday.
Opposition
But some veteran officers cast doubt on the hopeful recruitment assessments from Powell and city officials. And, they added, the lop-
MARSHAL: UA’s Murphy bangs the union drum
of the UA — formally, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada — among them plumbers, steamfitters, pipefitters, sprinkler fitters, welders and technicians throughout the construction industry.
On Saturday, in suit and sash across his broad shoulders, Murphy will lead the nation’s oldest and largest Labor Day parade up Fifth Avenue as its grand marshal.
“As a fourth-generation union plumber from the city of New York, I really am thrilled to be able to represent not only my organization, but all workers, all workers in the labor movement on that day,” he said. “Because the tent is so much broader than one local union or one building council. It’s all workers. And that’s what I think I’m most excited about.”
The theme of this year’s parade, “All Workers, Many Voices, One Fight,” rings familiar Labor Day notes. It also sounds with Murphy, who believes that people with organized labor are in a fight for their livelihoods, even if, he said, support for unions is at the highest it’s been for decades.
ilies,” regardless of whether they belong to unions.
Murphy said that among the greatest obstacles to better livelihoods for laborers are “unscrupulous builders” of both residential and commercial construction whose chief aim is to build and flip.
“So it’s all about profit,” he said, with the surest way to a high return being inexpensive labor, of which, unfortunately, there is plenty, in New York City and nationwide.
That’s one reason, Murphy said, the UA has ramped its organizing teams nationwide, “because we see that exploitation.” The union is organizing new members at the rate of 1,000 a month nationwide, he said.
But it’s equally important to work and collaborate with contractors, so-called “top-down organizing,” even if that is the more challenging organizational strategy.
“But this is what it takes. And once they realize the essence of fairness, how we’re not looking to drive employers out of business. We want to try to raise the level for everybody, level the playing field across the board.”
that can be done,” he said. Murphy noted that the Presidential Transition Project — better known as Project 2025 — compiled by the conservative, Trump-supporting Heritage Foundation, would significantly compromise the civil-service sector. It also advocates for the elimination of prevailing wage requirements and for modifications in overtime regulations to give employers more latitude on pay.
sided approval for the contract reflected younger probation officers’ hunger for raises while veteran officers were lured by the retroactive paydays.
“A lot of young people here, the new people, are pretty much on the borderline of being poor,” one veteran PO said last week. “They all voted yes because they needed the money.”
Another officer with more than 25 years as a PO agreed, saying that rather than attract people, the contract and the accompanying back pay could lead to an exodus. “The people that are still here now, their basic thing is ‘I’m going to stay for my retro money and then I’m leaving,’” said that officer, who will remain with the department another few years.
Both officers spoke on condition that they not be identified because they feared retribution from both the department and the union.
The 25-year officer said it was disingenuous of Powell to highlight the contract’s inclusion of a salary step structure since 11 years is a ludicrous amount of time to reach top pay. “Nobody in the city has 11 years to get to top salary,” that officer said, adding that workers with other city agencies have a five- or, at most, seven-step salary structure built in to their contracts.
“Why would anyone choose to come here and wait for a top salary of 11 years when you can reach top salary in five years in NYPD, Corrections, Sanitation, the fire department, anywhere else in the city, really. You’re not competitive. You just made it a lot harder for people to come here and stay here,” the officer said.
That officer, who noted that POs must have four-year college degrees, also said that Probation Department veterans voted against the deal because there is little indication of work tours, which include a weekend and two late-night —until 10 p.m. — shifts every month, rather than a single shift that ended at 7 p.m. They also noted that probation officers in neighboring jurisdictions earn much higher salaries. Some note that in Nassau County, for instance, veteran probation officers earn upward of six figures, including overtime.
“I just want fair working conditions for myself and my coworkers, and I want people to stay,” the 25-year officer said. “That’s all I’m fighting for — fair working conditions and for people that we supervise to have some sort of steady supervision, because they deserve that. That’s how you get the best results.”
Powell, though, said she was confident that the POs critical of the agreement would change their minds once they get the final salary numbers.
She again said that this contract was something of a baseline for future agreements. “This contract wasn’t about pay parity. It was about restructuring our salaries for retention and recruitment and giving us some kind of structure, and that’s what we accomplished,” Powell said.
“Anybody can look at the salaries between us and other law enforcement and outside entities and know that we still got work to do. And that’s what I plan on doing, and that’s what I’m continuing to do.”
She also noted that UPOA’s 2021 federal lawsuit, alleging patterns of discrimination on pay and promotions that the union says harm mostly women and persons of color within its membership, against the city and the Probation Department was ongoing.
He suggested that support reflected several things, among them the tightening labor market, the expanding wage gap and, within some sectors and demographics, increased exploitation. But workers, he said, all want and deserve “something more, something better, for themselves and their fam-
Just as importantly, and particularly this year, with the nation about to vote in a presidential election that could have significant bearing on organized labor, Murphy said, is to get current members to “focus on the issues” rather than get caught up in sound bites often devised to confuse and even deceive.
“It’s exhausting, and often it drives our members to vote against their own economic well-being without even realizing the damage
“As a labor organization, it’s incumbent upon us to be able to say, hey, ‘here’s the facts.’ These are the issues. This is how these legislators have voted. Now, you can make your decision. And today the choice is just crystal clear,” Murphy said. Murphy, 61, said he is often reminded of the longtime House of Representatives speaker, Tip O’Neill, who remarked on blue-collar workers’ long love affair with President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Reagan, of course, fired thousands of unionized air traffic controllers who staged an illegal strike in 1981, the year he assumed office, decimating the union that had endorsed him rather than Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. “We’re faced with that same challenge today for people who love a candidate,” he said.
But on Saturday morning, following Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, among the floats, construction equipment, union banners and placards, U.S. flags and red, white and blue bunting, politics will take a back seat during a celebration of organized labor and its successes. Murphy, who four decades ago joined up with a plumber’s local to make a difference, has had a hand in a few of those. “This has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding careers that I could ask for, because it really felt right,” he said.
And that’s in no small part because he’s helped usher in positive changes for thousands of union members, including, now, his son, who recently graduated from Local 1’s apprenticeship program and is working as a plumber’s helper with the New York City Housing Authority, carrying on a union-strong tradition.
“When we can secure a better contract, when we can get them a decent raise, when we can make their pension even stronger, at the end of the day, we’re protecting a lot of families,” Murphy said. “And that’s all we can work for. That’s all we can ask for.”
OSA TRAINING COURSE
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has scheduled an Associate Staff Analyst exam later this year Filing for the exam runs from September 4-24, 2024 The Notice of Exam, including the date of the written exam, will be posted on DCAS’s website (http://nyc gov/examsforjobs) at the beginning of the filing period
As the union representing Associate Staff Analysts, the Organization of Staff Analysts will offer one-on-one application assistance from September 9-20, 2024. In addition, an 8 week classroom-style training class will be offered from September 30th through November 22nd from 6-9pm.
# # # # # # # # #
Application assistance and exam training will be held at the OSA office, 220 East 23rd Street, Ste 707, between Second and Third Aves Assistance is free for those in OSA-represented titles If you don’t work for the City or you are not in an OSA-represented title, you can get our assistance by paying $97 50 in a money order payable to “OSART ”
To set up an appointment for application assistance or to sign up for exam training, call George Morgan at (212) 686-1229 between 8am and 3pm weekdays Complete and print the OSART form on the “Exams, Lists & Training” tab of the OSA website (www osaunion org) and bring it, along with your money order, to your application assistance session or your first classroom training session
The schedule and materials for the training classes will be posted on the
Courtesy John J. Murphy
John J. Murphy, center, the international representative for the Northeast region for the United Association at a December 2018 laborers rally in support of prevailing wage legislation in Albany. Murphy is this year’s Labor Day Parade grand marshal.
COMMENTARY COMMENTARY COMMENTARY
BEN AUGUST Publisher RICHARD KHAVKINE Editor
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A vote for Medicare
To The ediTor:
Last week’s issue of The Chief included inspiring commemorative Labor Day advertisements from various unions.
One proclaimed: “All Workers. Many Voices. One Fight.” Another saluted its membership, “who hail from every corner of the globe and are united in upholding American ideals.”
As a retiree, I find that the diversity of my brethren is not just geographical, but economic, racial and ideological. The last can lead to debates among friends and family. But as Kamala Harris said at the Democratic National Convention, this is an America where “we have so much more in common than what separates us.”
Some issues transcend politics. The father of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin told the convention that bringing the hostages home “is not a political issue, it is a humanitarian issue.”
Marianne Pizzitola, the president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, observed that “health care is a human right, not a political fight.”
It is a truism that members of both parties have failed to fully embrace our cause to preserve our health benefits. That said, it can be argued that one Party has articulated in writing a policy proposal that would ill-serve retirees.
One proposal included in “Project 2025,” the 900-page authoritarian blueprint for a second Trump term, would “Make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option” (page 465) for all Medicare enrollees (!). This could lead to many beneficiaries stranded in the MA program. In all but four states, MA enrollees who want to switch back to traditional Medicare after a short trial period can be can be denied supplemental (Medigap) coverage.
Workers and retirees, please ask yourselves if you will vote against your own interests.
Harry Weiner
Slow on EMS pay
To The ediTor:
This is in response to Helen Northmore regarding the lack of desirable remuneration. I would like to stipulate that city officials as far back as 1978 have not done the right thing so far as remuneration for its EMTs and paramedics.
I know because in 1977/78, I was appointed as an EMT and eventu-
TAX STRATEGIES
ally went on to paramedic school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, or Jacobi as it’s often referred.
The unions at the time were masters at stroking EMS workers, telling them that the money was coming. The promise of pay parity was akin to the Pinocchio puppet since untruths were extremely prevalent in those days and continues to today.
My EMS brothers and sisters will continue to receive squat! I hope that I am proven wrong on the part of EMS. Godspeed all.
Pete Hosey
Coin operated
To The ediTor:
Last week marked the 55th Anniversary of NYC Transit bus drivers no longer having to use a coin collector to make change for riders. Aug. 31st, 1969, was the first day that bus riders either had to deposit a subway token or the exact amount in coins directly into the fare box.
Drivers would no longer be required to make change. They could concentrate on driving instead of multi-tasking. It became the passenger’s responsibility to deposit the exact fare in cash or subway token directly into the fare box when boarding the bus.
All the driver had to do was look through the upper portion of the fare box and make sure that the fare was paid. Previously, drivers had to deal with potential robbery while in service due to carrying cash. Safety increased for drivers and passengers. On-time performance improved as passenger boarding time sped up.
Drivers no longer had to deal with money when returning to the bus garage. Other transit employees known as “vault pullers” would unlock the bottom of the fare box and empty the contents. Coins and subway token revenue would be sorted, counted and wrapped within the safe confines of a secure money room within the garage. Even with the recent fare increase, MTA public transportation using your Metro or OMNY card is still one of the best bargains in town.
Larry Penner
Social insecurity
To The ediTor:
A brief explanation in regard to Social Security and socialism. A Social Security check is not a socialist program. If it were a social-
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD by Denberg
ist program, the amount that every individual contributed to it would be the same, and the amount of the benefits received (paid out) by each individual would be the same (that is not reality). The U.S. idea for a social security system had come from 19th-century Germany. The capitalist monarchy launched an old-age social insurance program in 1889, by the edict of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Socialism is an economic system whereby workers co-own and produce goods and services and share in the profits.The government owns and controls major industries. The economy is centrally planned, and the government provides the majority of goods and services for its “citizens.” Socialism is a flawed economic system; it cannot succeed in modern economies because hundreds of thousands of enterprises produce millions of products. And modern economies are too complex to plan. Without a market economy, a strong safety net is not possible.
Robert Sica
The happiness quotient
To The ediTor: What do residents of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands have in common?
Year after year, they rank among the happiest people in the world based upon data from World Gallup Poll surveys, GDP, life expectancy and other factors. They also live under varying forms of social democracy, a system of government which includes large-scale welfare programs with market-based mixed economies that feature both
The home office deduction: what you should know
BY BARRY LISAK
TO TAKE ADVANTAGE of the home-office tax deduction, IRA rules require the home office to be your principal place of business and that it is used exclusively and on a regular basis. According to the Small Business Administration, just over half of the country’s small businesses are based in a home, but only a small number of taxpayers claimed the deduction. The most common reason for not taking the deduction is the complexity of the paperwork (i.e., IRS Form 8829) taxpayers must fileA second reason for not taking the deduction is fear of an IRS audit, which may also be attributed to the form’s complexity.
But there is a simplified, “safe-harbor” method of calculating your home-office deduction. In essence, you are allowed to deduct a flat $5 per square foot of dedicated office space in your home, up to a maximum of 300 square feet, yielding a $1,500 maximum deduction. Under this alternative, a taxpayer can forgo all the information-gathering and avoid the multi-line tax form previously required. The second and established method for a home-office deduction uses IRS Form 8829 whereby taxpayers must determine which costs are “direct” or “indirect”
expenses.
Direct expenses let you writeoff 100 percent of costs associated specifically with your home office — everything from painting the office to buying a work computer, or a second phone for the homebased business. Indirect expenses are pro-rated, based on the size of your home office. These are things like your property insurance, mortgage, utility bills and home-alarm system. If the square footage of your home office equals 10 percent of your home, you can claim 10 percent of these expenses. Additionally, one must compute depreciation for the home-office portion. Good luck with that one. You may choose either the simplified method or the actual expense method for any year. Once you use a method for a specific tax year, you cannot later change to the other method for that same year. Each home-office deduction method has its benefits:
• Simplified Method: Very simple computation; $5 multiplied by the square footage of the home office. The maximum write-off is $1,500. This method eliminates the need to fill out the complex Form 8829. No receipts needed for insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance, which reduces record keeping and computation to a minimum. This
“safe-harbor” method may be better for people who have paid off the mortgage or who have low property taxes. No depreciation deduction is allowed, nor is a later recapture needed.
• Actual Expenses Method: Taxpayers with offices larger than 300 square feet will receive a larger tax deduction using this method. If your actual expenses are higher, then it would make sense to use them to determine the deduction. Unused expenses (i.e., losses) not used for current year can be carried over to the next year, which the simplified method does not allow. There is no maximum annual deduction. For most taxpayers, it is recommended that they prepare the home-office deduction for 2024 using both the new optional method and the traditional method and then choose the one that provides the maximum deduction. Regardless of which method you choose in 2024, you have the choice in subsequent years to choose which method benefits you the most.
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.
capitalism and nationalized government services. The model includes a high percentage of unionized workers, a high percentage of the workforce engaged in the public sector and low levels of wealth inequality.
While a recent letter to The Chief correctly notes that “Socialist regimes are depressing” (“Doublespeak,” Aug. 23) the same is clearly not true for social democracies, such as those topping the happiness list.
All 15 nations whose citizens self-describe their lives as “happier” than Americans employ elements of Social Democracy. Republican politicians, like Donald Trump, falsely claim that Democrats are “socialists” or “communists” in order to stoke fear and division. Regulating business, progressively taxing wealth, promoting unionized labor, providing free or low cost health care, childcare and education through college isn’t socialism or communism; it’s good public policy and it makes people happy.
Joseph Cannisi
Original migrants
To The ediTor:
A recent letter writer critical of the Democratic Party cited crime as among the reasons he would not be voting for Kamala Harris in November (“Chicanery,” Sept. 30). The most recent available FBI statistics show it declined from 2020 to 2022. Trump certainly was not concerned with law and order on Jan. 6, 2021. He also cites the economy and immigration. Immigrants are now making and have often made a positive contribution to this country.
The groups that could have a legitimate objection to this argument are the Apaches, Comanches, Iroquois, Cheyenne and other true natives of this country. But those who illegally came to this country and slaughtered them were white Europeans.
The so-called “migrant crime wave” doesn’t compare to the savagery of those original migrants.
What Tom Russell, a singer-songwriter with superstar talent but not fame wrote, and sang about Mexicans in 2007 can apply to today’s migrants: “Who’s gonna build the wall?/Who’s gonna build your wall boys?/Who’s gonna mow your lawn?/Who’s gonna cook your Mexican food?/When your Mexican maid is gone?/Who’s gonna wax the floors tonight?/Down at the local mall?/ Who’s gonna wash your baby’s face?/Who’s gonna build your wall?.
Richard Warren
Selective criteria
To The ediTor:
The recent article by “City Workers for Palestine” (“Unions, city pension board failing workers’ moral call,” The Chief, Aug. 16) requires rebuttal. The authors are entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. To cite Gazan deaths without recognizing what precipitated this war, namely Hamas’ terror attack of Oct. 7 is to exhibit selective amnesia. Not a word about the murder, rape, sexual violence and hostage taking by Hamas and their Gazan cohorts. Israel vacated Gaza in 2005. No Israelis and no socalled occupation since. All Gazans did was to relinquish control to Hamas. Israeli genocide? It is Israel that is allowing polio vaccines to be delivered daily to tens of thousands of Gazan children. In Israel proper, there are Arabs on Israel’s Supreme Court. There are Muslim legislators in the Knesset. Palestinian Arabs vote in Israel’s elections. The charge of genocide is laughable. The veil of antisemitism is lifted when the writers go beyond questioning Israel holding land, captured in a defensive war in 1967. They write of “occupied Palestine,” suggesting Israel should be obliterated. Never mind that Jews have lived there for thousands of years, long before Islam even existed.
Yakov Moshe
REAL ESTATE
Lookup tool to check your property tax exemption status goes live
BY MATHEW JOSEPH
IT USED TO BE that you had to wait for months to hear from the city’s Finance Department after you applied for any kind of tax exemption.
A new electronic tool now allows you to check the status of your application online. The online resource provides New York City homeowners with a quick and convenient way to access essential details about their property tax exemption applications. Through this tool, you can:
• Check the status of your homeowner property tax benefit applications.
• Request additional information from the Department of Finance (DOF) if your application is incomplete.
• Allow an appointed representative or interested third party to re-
trieve basic information about your application status on your behalf. Exemptions available for lookup include:
• STAR (School Tax Relief)
• Enhanced STAR
• Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE)
• Disabled Homeowners’ Exemption (DHE)
• Veterans Exemptions
• Clergy Exemption
You must have a NYC.ID account to use the lookup tool. If you do not have one, you can create an account for free. Call 311 for assistance. Visit www.nyc.gov/contactpropexemptions to send a message.
Mathew Joseph is a real estate tax consultant. He can be reached at 929-393-5773 or realtorplus1@ yahoo.com.
COMMENTARY COMMENTARY COMMENTARY
Shooting the breeze with an assault pen
BY RON ISAAC
If numbers won’t lie to do our bid-
ding, we must either reinvent mathematical truth, or else reassign public policy makers to duties less controversial than the sanctioned highway robbery of law-abiding New Yorkers.
They’re the ones picking up the tab for the prodigal sponges.
Among the freeloaders are the bearers of “ghost license plates,” who are costing the city $200 million annually in lost revenue. The government recoups the deficit by ensuring that innocent people make amends for the guilty.
The scofflaws are very ingenious. They find many ways to tamper with their plates to avoid bridge tolls and speed cameras. They know how to dodge images, crease the metal so that a number or letter is creased or hidden, or put correction tape or white-out over it, or hitch a rig to the rear.
These moochers should apply to the Secret Service, which is seeking to up its game.
Regrettably, some apologists for the equalization of privilege
consider the phrase “law-abiding taxpayers” to be code for suburban supremacists. But subsistence workers from all communities are punished for the delinquency of others. Their measly monthly social service benefits have taken a hit this summer, because the shortfall of funds must be diverted.
The city will never be foreclosed. But it will be wiped out. Who is stopping our leaders from taking the leap from lip service to public service?
Added to the sacrifice of revenue due to ghost license plates, is the disastrous toll from turnstile jumpers and bus fare evaders, which steals from the peoples’ treasury a conservatively estimated $700 million annually for successive years. And though the debate over the sticker shock associated with being a sanctuary city is up in the air, the $5 billion liability for the affirmation of humanitarian principles is down to earth like a thud.
Hypocrisy On
There should be a law requiring all agency heads to be picked straight from the rank in file. No exceptions.
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.
Expect a Top Candidate
Let’s please stop the nonsense 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. The attacks on this decision 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.
THE CHIEF-LEADER, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
Letters to the Editor
Another body blow to the economy is the evacuation of many large commercial establishments, including major chain and box stores, because they cannot sustain the massive shoplifting, which is no longer a police matter and is, in effect, endorsed by district attorneys and countenanced by politically appointed judges. Struggling stores that remain must jack up the prices, which most hurts our poor communities.
Pillaging is on a grand scale, and uncontained opportunistic parasitism is bedeviling and demoralizing our town. Security guards are still hired, but they are now just props
Audacity to Criticize Molina
and window dressing. If they try to stop a looter, they’re fired. The honor system is a laughingstock. The cowardice and ambitiousness of legislators, district attorneys and judges, who are in the business of
selective ingratiation, are threats to civil order and social sanity.
To the Editor: On Feb 19, the NY Daily News published an article entitled, “As NYC Correction Commissioner Molina cleans
THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication. Correspondents must include their names, addresses and phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this newspaper. To submit a letter to the editor online, and click on Letters to the Editor. years of been Justices the more have women is 4 over decision to African-Amerhe all, we qualified comical if ignoJobs the and What an President for selectblue-ribbon apconfirm or politicontext is Ronto woman immedifrom find obvious1991,
Vincent Scala is a former Bronx Assistant District Attorney. He is currently a criminal-defense attorney in New York City and its suburbs.
a “former covert officer in the CIA,” could not stop the
and by deducunder Act mar(MFJ), separately household spouse 2021 the dollar and and over 65 and blind
criminals and probably require arrests, prosecutions
If the homeless who are removed from the subways refuse to cooperate with programs designed to help them turn their lives around, what are the penalties? Will they be arrested or placed in secure mental facilities where they will be less likely to do
Those homeless people who are mentally or emotionally incapable of living safely with others have to be “imprisoned,” either in prisons (if convicted of crimes) or in secure mental institutions. Those who refuse to cooperate with reasonable and necessary treatment from qualified and competent authorities have to be treated the same way—prison or se-
Only those homeless who cooperate with those who provide necessary treatment, and can live peacefully with others, should be placed in housing in the neighbor-
They reserve their wrath for homeowners who put out their garbage a few days early, swept away gum wrappers dropped by passersby an hour earlier. And mercy for a man suspected of screaming antisemitism and stabbing his victim almost to death. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and assault. Maybe a count of attempted murder was not appropriate because the suspect’s alleged weapon had a GPS that would steer the blade away from vital organs.
New York may survive and rebound, because it has so far just leased, not sold its soul. But in recent years, we have been taking two steps backward for each step forward, instead of the other way around. To keep pace with even this halting progress, the city must make changes in hiring practices on the highest level.
A few weeks ago, Laura Kavanaugh surrendered her curiously appointed position of FDNY commissioner. She had no qualifications for the job. We can conjecture what her mysterious credentials may have been.
Contributing factors for her departure, however, may have included her alienation of rank-and-file firefighters. Her unpopularity may have been fueled by her efforts to redress alleged discrimination in hiring and promotion and reputed culture of an inhospitable work environment for women and minorities.
She has been replaced by Robert Tucker, the CEO of a private security company who also was never a firefighter, although he seems to be sort of a groupie, hobbyist and aficionado. There is a pattern of hiring kingpins who are out of their element.
Was it an engineered coincidence that her mom is a former chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents and her pop an heir to the Loews Corporation, and head of the Tisch family’s holding company, which according to Crain’s New York Business “has interests in oil and drilling, insurance and hotels and had $13.5 billion in revenue in 2015.”
There should be a law requiring all agency heads to be picked straight from the rank and file. No exceptions.
The city should also make widely available, and in plain language, the rules of the bidding process in relation to construction materials and other contracts. Let’s put to rest those nasty innuendos about donors and payoffs.
And just to stay on topic: does anybody know how to get the job of commissioner of jurors? And why has the payment for a day of jury duty remained the same since Millard Fillmore’s presidency? It’s $40. Given that the minimum hourly wage is $15, a full day’s pay should be at least $120. I guess that’s what people snookered into deciding the fate of their peers are deemed to be worth.
Your Name and Establish Your Eligibility —
In recent days, New Yorkers have lost one of our few reliable sources of local news: WCBS. Just when I was hoping for an expose of the city’s new public bathroom initiative, which aims to get rid of the mugging parlors, shooting galleries and pathogen hothouses, and replace with them facilities equal to the standard of a city hospital operating room.
counseling, testing, medical evaluation, and case presentation call:
and COUNSELING SERVICES,
Jessica Tisch is the commissioner of Sanitation. We know how she got the job, but we can rhetorically ask why. She has zero prior experience in the realm of her leadership.
Their place on the dial is now ESPN New York, so now the hooliganism that will be covered will be in the hockey rink and off the streets. It was a business decision of Audacy, which also owns WINS, which continues to barter the world for 22 minutes of our attention. Not much of a bargain for us. Maybe Audacy should change its name to Audacity.
BARRY LISAK
VINCENT SCALA
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda during a March press event on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge at which they announced the launch of a multi-agency city-state task force dedicated to identifying and removing so-called “ghost cars” — cars that are virtually untraceable by traffic cameras and toll readers because of their forged or altered license plates — from city streets.
AFSCME activists’ reform push fails
‘One member, one vote,’ other proposals falls short at L.A. convention
BY DUNCAN FREEMAN dfreeman@thechiefleader.com
In an uncontested delegate election last month, Lee Saunders and Elissa McBride, the president and secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, respectively, were re-elected to their posts at the union’s bi-annual convention in Los Angeles.
But because AFSCME’s top officers are elected by delegates from each of the union’s roughly 3,400 locals, the vast majority of AFSCME’s 1.5 million members — including the 150,000 members of District Council 37 — did not directly vote for either.
That’s something that a small group of delegates are hoping to change by introducing a “one member, one vote” system to AFSCME, the nation’s largest public-sector union. The system, which would allow AFSCME’s members to directly elect the unions’ top leaders, has been adopted by other large unions, among them the United Auto Workers and the Teamsters, and has recently contributed to the ousting of incumbent union leaders.
“One member, one vote would be moving in the direction of an actual member-led union,” said Dee Bowers, an archivist for the Brooklyn Public Library who spoke at the convention in support of a resolution calling for the creation of an ad-hoc committee to take up the issue. “I feel like [that] is what a union is supposed to be.”
Reform-minded delegates also proposed two other constitutional changes designed to bring more transparency to elections for convention delegates and selections for convention committees. The delegates pushing these initiatives, members of various AFSMCE district councils across the country, initially got together to advocate for their union to take a stronger stand in support of Palestinian workers but quickly found that pro-democracy initiatives went hand in hand with their political advocacy.
“Our group, we call ourselves ‘Green 4 Falasteen,’ but we came together as a group of people interested in organizing for rank-andfile power and greater democracy who are also interested in pushing
for a better policy for Palestine,” said Adrienne Seely, the author of the one member, one vote resolution. “We envisage both the rankand-file [advocacy] and Palestine [advocacy] as completely intertwined. As soon as you try to push on Palestine, all of the issues of not having rank and file democracy come to the surface.”
AFSCME’s executive board advocated against the three resolutions brought by Seely’ cohort and they were rejected in a voice vote on the convection floor. Honda Wang, a delegate from DC 37’s Local 1549, which represents municipal clerical-administrative employees, said the “convention was titled heavily against” one member, one vote. Wang said he sensed that some of the arguments made against it were “belittling, elitist and anti-democratic.”
But AFSCME delegates did pass a resolution, recommended by the
union’s executive board and in line with some of the demands that advocates for Palestinians have raised, calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and for the return of Israeli hostages. But Seely, a catalog librarian at the Chicago Public Library and member of Local 1215, said that resolution doesn’t go far enough.
Her group proposed having AFSCME sign onto a letter sent to President Joe Biden by seven international unions calling for the U.S to stop sending military support to Israel. But that resolution also failed.
‘You’re there to rubber stamp’
Seely said that Green 4 Falasteen’s resolutions were hoping to tackle “structural challenges” that prevent rank and file workers from engaging with the international union. Those challenges include delegates’ penchant
for voting in tandem with the recommendations of AFSCME’s executive board, a requirement that two-thirds of delegates approve constitutional amendments and that convention ballots are conducted by voice vote.
“There’s a lot of structures in place to prevent any kind of impetus coming from the rank and file unless it aligns with what the executive board wants to happen,” Seely argued. “Even as delegates, people don’t expect to be participating in a democratic process. The feeling is that you’re there to rubber stamp what the executive board is saying.”
Whether a resolution passes is determined by whether the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ votes predominate on the convention floor. Only if the vote is close does more precise balloting occur.
“People who yell louder have more of a voice in a voice vote regardless of how many members they represent,” Bowers, the Brooklyn librarian, said. “That’s an absolutely insane way to conduct business for a union with 1.5 million members.”
Even if the one member, one vote committee had been created, there’s no guarantee that the initiative would be implemented by the next AFSCME convention in 2026, George Olken, the president of the Brooklyn Library Guild and a delegate, pointed out. He said that many members are still learning how democracy works within AFSCME. “The more the union processes are known to members the more the members can build the union that they want it to be,” he said. “It’s about building power over time.”
Anthony Welles, the president of DC 37 Local 371 and an AFSCME international vice president, said that AFSCME’s final resolution on Palestine represented a compromise position between differing factions in the union. “AFSCME’s system is working,” he said of the one-member, one-vote initiative. “I think what we have is fine. It’s not undemocratic.”
He pointed out that the presidents of each local union are elected by majority vote. “It’s up to each union to get their members involved and to have a voice and that’s what we do in our local and in DC 37,” he argued. “The people who believe in [one member, one vote] should continue to come to voice their opinion.”
In NYS, freelancers gain rights, protections
‘Freelance Isn’t Free Act’ is now state law
BY RICHARD KHAVKINE richardk@thechiefleader.com
Hundreds of thousands of freelancers statewide now have longsought rights and protections from shady contractors.
State legislation that requires contracts, on-time payments and timely efforts at resolution was enacted last week, with employers who violate the law potentially required to pay double what they owe freelancers and also subject to additional civil penalties.
The executive director of the Freelancers Union, Rafael Espinal, called the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” a “historic milestone for freelancers.”
The law, he said during a press event at the Freelancers Hub in Sunset Park’s Industry City Aug. 28, “is more than just a legal safeguard — it’s a recognition of the vital role freelancers play in our economy and a commitment to ensuring they receive the respect and fairness they deserve.”
Signed by Governor Kathy Hochul earlier this year, the law is modeled on similar New York City legislation that has been in effect since May 2017, adding oversight and enforcement from the state Attorney General’s Office.
Brooklyn-based writer Eric Thurm, the National Writers Union’s campaign coordinator and a longtime advocate for freelancers rights, said freelancers are often treated as employees but without the associated protections and benefits, “like, for example, being paid on time.”
“That’s why it’s so important for freelancers to come together and organize the way we do at NWU, because when we organize we win things like ‘Freelance Isn’t Free,’ which provides freelancers with the resources and rights they need to get the money they’re owed,” Thurm said.
He noted that the city’s law ulti-
See FREELANCERS, page 8
Today as we pause to reflect, remember, and pay tribute to all those we lost and continue to lose because of the tragic events of 9/11; we must also remember our promise. We promised to never forget.
That is why, as a Union Movement, we continue to fight to ensure our heroes, survivors, and their families receive the care and compensation they deserve.
We will never forget their sacrifice and we will never give up the fight.
Courtesy Dee Bowers
AFSCME members from New York at the union’s bi-annual convention last month.
A small group of reformers had several initiatives, including a ‘one member, one vote’ proposal, voted down at the convention.
S E PTEMBER 11, 2024
September 11th, 2024 marks the 23rd year since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan. NYPD Detectives were involved in every aspect of the response, rescue, and recovery from the devastation of that terrible day. Every September, and year-round, we pay homage to our fellow DEA members whose work on the response, rescue, and recovery led to their ultimate sacrifice. To date, 134 of our members had their deaths officially declared in the line of duty, with an additional 27 members’ deaths pending line of duty status. We will never forget them.
Jennifer S. Abramowitz, d. 09/25/2020
Sandra Y. Adrian, d. 01/11/2006
Cliff Acosta, d. 03/19/2021
Gerard A. Ahearn, d. 10/24/2016
James J. Albanese, d. 08/13/2014
Sixto Almonte, d. 11/20/2017
Luis G. Alvarez, d. 06/29/2019
Thomas J. Barnitt, d. 06/11/2018
Aslyn A. Beckles, d. 01/18/2014
Douglas B. Boyer, d. 11/08/2021
Gerald T. Brennan, d. 07/14/2020
Anthony N. Brognano, d. 08/07/2019
Barbara A. Taylor-Burnette, d. 12/30/2021
Eric M. Calleja, d. 08/07/2022
Megan K. Carr-Wilks, d. 09/19/2017
Joseph A. Cavitolo, d. 10/25/2013
William F. Clancy, d. 11/26/2021
Leonard D. Cocco, Jr., d. 06/12/2020
Christopher E. Cranston, d. 07/20/2019
Angel A. Creagh, d. 01/14/2014
Enrico J. Crisafi, d. 11/28/2021
Hairo B. Cuellar, d. 09/18/2019
Kevin A. Czartoryski, d. 12/05/2010
Annetta G. Daniels, d. 11/17/2011
Michael K. Davis, d. 06/10/2015
Francisco F. DeCastro, d. 01/24/2022
Michael A. DeVecchis, d. 01/16/2020
Corey J. Diaz, d. 10/07/2009
Leroy Dixon, d. 06/14/2015
Harry O. D’Onofrio, d. 04/14/2021
Pedro Esponda, d. 03/26/2018
Angel Esquerete, d. 08/02/2022
Luis G. Fernandez, d. 10/16/2014
Carmen M. Figueroa, d. 05/26/2013
Stuart F. Fishkin, d. 05/08/2015
George A. Flores, d. 08/28/2022
Pedro A. Foruria, Sr., d. 08/25/2021
Sean P. Franklin, d. 05/22/2017
Thomas J. Gallo, d. 10/31/2020
Pietro (Pete) Gianfrancesco, d. 09/02/2020
James T. Giery, d. 09/20/2016
Charles G. Gittens, d. 11/28/2014
Michael E. Glazer, d. 05/26/2016
John E. Goggin, d. 05/06/2008
Edward R. Gorczynski, d. 08/26/2020
Roland A. (Tony) Gray, d. 06/22/2021
Kevin G. Hawkins, d. 05/07/2007
Michael R. Henry, d. 11/28/2013
Alick W. Herrmann, d. 12/23/2011
Ronald E. Higgins, d. 06/11/2022
Patrick J. Hogan, d. 12/31/2021
William J. Holfester, d. 01/22/2008
Nathaniel Holland, Jr., d. 04/05/2013
Nicholas M. Holovinsky, d. 07/26/2022
Steven Hom, d. 10/19/2013
Michael A. Houlahan, d. 03/25/2020
Charles J. Humphry, d. 04/10/2019
Valerie K. Jacobs, d. 04/08/2019
Jewel Jenkins, d. 05/24/2020
Kurt E. Jones, d. 08/27/2023
William J. Keating, d. 06/08/2022
William D. Kinane, d. 06/13/2017
John F. Kristoffersen, d. 08/25/2012
Stephen T. Kubinski, d. 01/06/2017
Emilio Laboy, d. 05/09/2020
Robert F. Larke, d. 06/07/2017
Michael L. Ledek, d. 02/09/2018
Jeffrey A. Lee, d. 07/16/2018
Thomas M. Lilly, d. 09/16/2022
Christian R. Lindsay, d. 02/12/2017
Anthony L. Lombardo, d. 11/17/2019
Scott G. Lovendahl, d. 09/15/2019
Thomas J. Lyons, d. 12/31/2018
Charlie W. Mackie, d. 02/04/2021
Eugene F. Madden, d. 02/06/2018
Brian J. Maley, d. 02/17/2021
John J. Marshall, d. 04/06/2014
James S. McCormick, d. 12/24/2022
Tommy L. Merriweather, d. 01/21/2013
Mark Mkwanazi, d. 02/16/2017
James W. Monahan, d. 10/13/2014
Robert A. Montanez, d. 03/16/2014
Michael P. Morales, d. 06/10/2009
George C. Moreno, d. 07/30/2021
John K. Muller, d. 12/23/2017
Terence P. Mulvey, d. 12/01/2021
Dennis P. Murphy, d. 10/25/2019
Thomas L. Neal, d. 05/18/2020
Alberto Nieves, d. 08/06/2019
Maureen M. O’Flaherty, d. 11/28/2019
Edwin Ortiz, d. 07/04/2011
Nicholas F. Ortiz, d. 04/05/2021
Joseph M. Paolillo, d. 09/09/2019
Philip T. Perry, d. 03/14/2019
Joseph L. Pidoto, d. 10/26/2018
Marcos M. Quinones, d. 02/07/2021
Andrea R. Rainer, d. 06/25/2019
Frank D. Randall, d. 01/28/2022
Mark H. Rawdon, d. 05/23/2020
George C. Remouns, Jr., d. 04/21/2017
Claude D. Richards, d. 09/11/2001
Ronald A. Richards, d. 10/10/2015
Roberto L. Rivera, d. 01/27/2007
Edwin Rodriguez, d.10/22/2022
Joseph M. Roman, d. 01/28/2019
Frank Rosado, d. 12/19/2019
John A. Russo, d. 07/22/2014
John C. Ryan, d. 05/19/2017
Hector J. Santiago, d. 04/10/2023
Thomas Santoro, d. 07/21/2019
James A. Schiavone, d. 12/12/2017
Joseph E. Seabrook, d. 05/29/2010
Basilio “Woody” Simons, d. 01/10/2018
Andrew L. Siroka, d. 01/25/2016
William Soto, d. 11/17/2018
Harry Stafilias, d. 04/01/2023
Christopher Strucker, d. 01/03/2014
Traci L. Tack-Czajkowski, d. 01/15/2013
Sally A. Thompson, d. 05/02/2018
William B. Titus, Jr., d. 08/24/2003
Jewel I. Todman-Phillip, d. 06/20/2020
Harry Valentin, d. 05/18/2018
Victor Vargas, d. 08/23/2022
Dennis J. Vickery, d. 10/13/2016
Joseph V. Vigiano, d. 09/11/2001
John J. Walker, d. 05/08/2022
James M. Ward, d. 01/17/2022
Thomas P. Ward, d. 07/08/2016
Thomas F. Weiner, Jr., d. 05/03/2003
Richard H. Wentz, d. 05/14/2013
Jennifer A. Williams, d. 02/16/2017
Robert W. Williamson, d. 05/13/2007
John T. Young, d. 02/17/2007
James Zadroga, d. 01/05/2006
mately helped 41 freelancers recoup more than $275,000 — double what they were owed — from media company L’Officiel USA to resolve a 2021 lawsuit brought by the city following the company’s failure to pay freelancers on time. “Those missed paychecks might be meaningless to the company, but they can mean the difference between paying rent or buying groceries for tons of freelancers,” Thurm said.
The act defines a freelancer as a person hired as an independent contractor for a job worth $800 or more. It is unclear how many freelancers there are statewide, but an independent study in 2019 estimated there were 1.3 million in New York City alone. It is widely believed that number grew significantly during and after the pandemic.
‘Just the beginning’
New York is the second state in the nation to enact non-payment protections for freelancers after Illinois. Espinal said New York’s law could serve as a template. He said he was hopeful that other cities and states would enact similar statutes, including California, where the State Senate just passed a “Freelance Worker Protection Act.”
“As we celebrate this achievement, let’s remember that this is just the beginning,” said Espinal, a former Brooklyn City Council member who as chair of the Council’s Committee on Consumer Affairs played a key role in the passage of the city’s legislation. “The passage of the ‘Freelance Isn’t Free’ law in New York sets a powerful precedent for the nation. We will continue to fight until all workers in this country are protected from exploitation and afforded the dignity they deserve. Because whether you’re a writer, a designer, a painter, a photographer, a domestic worker or even a consultant, all work is work and it deserves to be paid.”
State Senator Andrew Gounardes, the prime sponsor of the state bill, said the law was “incredibly important” for numerous reasons given that nearly two million state residents perform freelance work, with an estimated nearly a million of them low-wage earners. “And so this means that people struggling the most to put food on their table are also the ones who are at most risk of not getting paid for the value of their work,” Gounardes said.
The commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Vilda Vera Ma-
yuga, said the department has received more than 4,000 complaints since the city’s law went on the books seven years ago. But she said the city law, and now the state’s, is structured such that filing a complaint is sometimes enough to resolve issues. “Freelancers, like all workers, deserve to be fully compensated for their labor and treated with respect,” she said.
Through the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, the DCWP has helped more than 770 freelance workers recoup a total of at least $2.9 million, according to a department report late last year.
State Senator Jessica Ramos, the chair of the Committee on Labor, noted that freelancers have changed the economy and that it’s therefore important for state labor law “to keep up with the times.”
“Whether you’re an independent contractor, you’re in the gig economy or you’re a member of our immigrant community — the law has to be able to protect you. You have to be able to afford rent, especially when you’ve worked so hard to pitch your ideas, land that contract. It must be recognized and properly compensated,” she said.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who as a City Council member sponsored the city’s legislation, said both the city and the state laws have enforcement provisions that will deter offenders from repeating anything that led them to pay out. “Workers with help from DCWP have found that it really works,” he said. Lander also said the act will empower workers in creative professions to settle and remain in New York City and drive that portion of the economy that lends the city its distinctive fabric.
Still Waiting for Justice… 23 YEARS LATER,
Justice delayed is justice denied, the legal maxim proclaims, and nowhere is this more outrageously evident than in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, the terrorist plot that took the lives of thousands in 2001 and continues to claim thousands more through the terrible illnesses left in its wake.
Yet today, 23 years later, Mohammed and two of his closest accomplices have not been tried and convicted for their heinous crimes.
The families of our 9/11 heroes and all victims have waited long enough. They deserve to have their day in court, an opportunity to confront the killers who took their loved ones away. Our government must deliver swift, certain justice and ensure that these depraved terrorists receive the ultimate punishment.
We owe that to those we lost that day, to those who sacrificed later, to those who suffer still, and to all the families who will never forget.
Tr ansit Supervisors TWU Local106
On September 11, 2001, Terrorists attacked America for a second time at the World Trade Center, killing thousands of Americans that were peacefully going about their business. In response to this disgusting act of cowardice, we came together as Americans and New Yorkers to heal and build back what was destroyed. New York City Transit workers were on scene at Ground Zero working tirelessly alongside many other city agencies during the massive cleanup effort that followed.
For those that died on that horrific day and for those that paid the price dying afterward due to 911 related health illnesses, we salute you for the sacrifices you made on behalf of a grateful nation that will never forget!
5768 Mosholu Avenue-Bronx, NY 10471 Visit us on the web at TWU106.ORG
Philip Valenti
Joseph Betancourt Hubert
Reardon
Jose DeJesus President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Recording Secretary
Comptroller’s ‘Wall of Shame’ spotlights worst labor rights offenders
Amazon, Chipotle, Uber and Lyft among them
BY CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com
Amazon, Panda Express, Chipotle, Uber and Lyft are among businesses with the worst record of labor law violations in the city, according to an “Employer Wall of Shame” unveiled Labor Day by City Comptroller Brad Lander’s office.
The dashboard, which includes data from 2020 through 2023, tracks private-sector businesses that have been investigated by city, state or federal government officials for wage theft, pay issues, health and safety matters and other labor laws.
“When companies steal their workers wages, commit unfair labor practices, or put workers’ lives at risk, the public should be able to clearly see it,” Lander said in a statement. “By launching this dashboard, my office is making it possible to identify bad actors across multiple violations of workplace laws. This tool can serve as a resource for workers, customers, neighbors, and other businesses as they are looking to work with employers who respect workers’ rights.”
The Wall of Shame, which notes the employers who have committed significant infractions, aims to improve the businesses’ compliance with labor laws by publicizing their violations.
Among the more egregious violators of labor laws in the city was Chipotle Mexican Grill, which in 2023 had seven unfair labor practices violations, the most of any employer, primarily for retaliating against employees who were trying to unionize.
Chipotle also violated wage theft laws — the company was the second-worst offender in the city, according to state Department of Labor data obtained by the comptroller’s office — which resulted in the company owing over $350,000 to more than 9,000 workers. In 2022, the company reached a settlement with the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection agreeing to pay $20 million to 13,000 current and former workers for violating the city’s Fair Workweek law.
Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which has been working to organize Chipotle workers, filed the ULPs against the burrito chain.
“The valuable information included on the dashboard will expose those businesses that violate labor laws and compromise workers’ rights related to wages, workplace safety and the right to unionize,” said Manny Pastreich, the union’s president.
Among the largest wage theft offenders were home health agencies American Business Institute, Smile Care and FADMO Home Health Care Services Agency, according to the dashboard. ABI violated minimum wage laws and owed more than $14.3 million to 175 workers, while FADMO owed $1.45 million to 22 workers for failing to pay minimum wages.
Luxury retailer Gucci reached one of the largest settlements with the New York City Commission on Human Rights recorded last year, when the company agreed to pay $330,000 after a sales associate experienced physical and verbal harassment on the job and no action was taken after the employee reported the issue.
Ride-share companies Uber and Lyft were party to the two largest wage and hour settlements involving the state Attorney General’s Office, with Uber paying $290 million and Lyft $38 million to 100,000 current and former drivers after the AG’s determined that the ride-hailing platforms fleeced the drivers out of income.
Construction company Timeless Roofing Inc. and building services company Planned Companies were among the other employers included in the Wall of Shame for violating labor laws and OSHA rules.
“This data will be instrumental in union organizing drives, procurement of public goods, and potential impact litigation. It will also be useful to everyday New Yorkers who can now look up companies that they are interested in working with to see if that employer is fair to their employees before accepting a job offer,” said Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.
Port Authority Police PBA
Twenty-three years ago on September 11, 2001, Port Authority police officers were the first of the first responders to the attack on the United States at the World Trade Center. Thirty-seven Port Authority police officers sacrificed their lives so others may live. There is no greater love. They, with their brothers and sisters from partner agencies, performed the greatest rescue in American history. Tragically, 2,977 people died at the World Trade Center on that horrible day. The Port Authority PBA honors all who died on September 11, 2001, just as we will Always Honor and Never Forget the PAPD 37.
Look at their faces, say their names, remember their sacrifice.
LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD LABOR AROUND THE WORLD
Harris’ proposal would raise tax breaks for startups
Hope is to spur small business creation
BY WILL WEISSERT Associated Press
Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing a tenfold increase in federal tax incentives for small business startup expenses, from $5,000 to $50,000, hoping to help spur a record 25 million new small business applications over her four-year term should she win the presidency in November.
She was set to unveil the plan during a campaign stop in the Portsmouth area of New Hampshire — marking a rare deviation from the Midwestern and Sunbelt battlegrounds the Democrat has focused on in her race against former Republican President Donald Trump.
A Harris campaign official said Tuesday the change would cover the $40,000 it costs on average to start a business. The proposal would let new businesses wait to claim that deduction until they first turn a profit, to better maximize its impact by lowering their taxes.
Such changes would likely require congressional approval. But a series of tax cuts approved during the Trump administration are set to expire at the end of next year, setting up a scenario where lawmakers may be ready to consider new tax policies. The proposal can help Harris show her support for entrepreneurs even as she’s called for higher corporate tax rates.
Since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris in July, the vice president has focused on campaigning in the “ blue wall “ states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that have been the centerpiece of Democratic campaigns that have won the White House in recent decades.
She’s also frequently visited Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, all of which Biden narrowly won in 2020, and North Carolina, which last voted Democratic in a presidential race in 2008 but which she’s still hoping to flip from Trump. Biden won New Hampshire by 7 percentage points in 2020, though Trump came far closer to winning it against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“The cost of living in New Hampshire is through the roof, their energy bills are some of highest in the country, and their housing market is the most unaffordable in history,” Trump posted last week on his social media platform.
Harris’ team says securing 25 million new business applications in four years if she wins the White House would exceed the roughly 19 million such applications filed since Biden took office. And those were millions more than the previous four years under Trump. The vice president’s goal would be a record for new small business applications — but records only go back about 20 years.
Reducing debt
Applications to start a business don’t always translate to small businesses actually being formed. Still, Harris’ plan could keep new small businesses that do come to fruition from otherwise incurring more debt which, at a time of high interest rates, might help them better succeed.
In the weeks since Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket, she has offered relatively few major policy proposals — attempting to strike a political balance between injecting new energy into the race and continuing to support many of the Biden administration proposals she helped champion as vice president.
Harris’ small business plan follows her announcing last month proposed steps to fight inflation by working to lower grocery prices, and to use tax cuts and other incentives to encourage homeownership. The vice president has also proposed ending federal taxes on tips to service industry workers, an idea Trump proposed first. The plan she was introducing Wednesday further calls for developing a standard deduction for small businesses meant to save their owners time when doing their taxes, and making it easier to get occupational licenses — letting people work across state lines and businesses expand into new states. Harris also wants to offer federal incentives so state and local governments will ease their regulations. In an effort to spur business investment outside urban and suburban hubs, Harris is pledging to launch a small business expansion fund to enable community banks and federal entities to cover interest costs while small businesses are expanding or otherwise creating jobs. Her team says those efforts will focus especially on areas that traditionally receive less investment.
Japan wants its hardworking citizens to try a 4-day workweek
BY YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
Japan, a nation so hardworking its language has a term for literally working oneself to death, is trying to address a worrisome labor shortage by coaxing more people and companies to adopt four-day workweeks.
The Japanese government first expressed support for a shorter working week in 2021, after lawmakers endorsed the idea. The concept has been slow to catch on, however; about 8 percent of companies in Japan allow employees to take three or more days off per week, while 7 percent give their workers the legally mandated one day off, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Hoping to produce more takers, especially among small and medium-sized businesses, the government launched a “work style reform” campaign that promotes shorter hours and other flexible arrangements along with overtime limits and paid annual leave. The labor ministry recently started offering free consulting, grants and a growing library of success stories as further motivation.
“By realizing a society in which workers can choose from a variety of working styles based on their circumstances, we aim to create a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution and enable each and every worker to have a better outlook for the future,” states a ministry website about the “hatarakikata kaikaku” campaign, which translates to “innovating how we work.”
Long hours usual
The department overseeing the new support services for businesses says only three companies have come forward so far to re-
quest advice on making changes, relevant regulations and available subsidies, illustrating the challenges the initiative faces.
Perhaps more telling: of the 63,000 Panasonic Holdings Corp. employees who are eligible for four-day schedules at the electronics maker and its group companies in Japan, only 150 employees have opted to take them, according to Yohei Mori, who oversees the initiative at one Panasonic company.
The government’s official backing of a better work-life balance represents a marked change in Japan, a country whose reputed culture of workaholic stoicism often got credited for the national recovery and stellar economic growth after World War II.
Conformist pressures to sacrifice for one’s company are intense. Citizens typically take vacations at the same time of year as their colleagues — during the Bon holidays in the summer and around New Year’s — so co-workers can’t accuse them of being neglectful or uncaring.
Long hours are the norm. Although 85 percent of employers report giving their workers two days off a week and there are legal restrictions on overtime hours, which are negotiated with labor unions and detailed in contracts. But some Japanese do “service overtime,” meaning it’s unreported and performed without compensation.
A recent government white paper on “karoshi,” the Japanese term that in English means “death from overwork, said Japan has at least 54 such fatalities a year, including from heart attacks.
Japan’s “serious, conscientious and hard-working” people tend to value their relationships with their colleagues and form a bond with their companies, and Japa-
‘The view in Japan was: You are cool the more hours you work, putting in free overtime. But there is no dream in such a life.’
— Kanako Ogino, PRESIDENT OF TOKYO-BASED NS GROUP
nese TV shows and manga comics often focus on the workplace, said Tim Craig, the author of a book called “Cool Japan: Case Studies from Japan’s Cultural and Creative Industries.”
“Work is a big deal here. It’s not just a way to make money, although it is that, too,” said Craig, who previously taught at Doshisha Business School and founded editing and translation firm BlueSky Academic Services.
Some officials consider changing that mindset as crucial to maintaining a viable workforce amid Japan’s nosediving birth rate. At the current rate, which is partly attributed to the country’s job-focused culture, the working age population is expected to decline 40 percent to 45 million people in 2065, from the current 74 million, according to government data.
Proponents of the three-daysoff model say it encourages people raising children, those caring for older relatives, retirees living on pensions and others looking for flexibility or additional income to remain in the workforce for longer.
Critics of the government’s push say that in practice, people put on four-day schedules often end up working just as hard for less pay.
But there are signs of change.
An annual Gallup survey that measures employee engagement
ranked Japan as having among the least engaged workers of all nationalities surveyed; in the most recent survey, only 6 percent of the Japanese respondents described themselves as engaged at work compared to the global average of 23 percent.
That means relatively few Japanese workers felt highly involved in their workplace and enthusiastic about their work, while most were putting in their hours without investing passion or energy.
Kanako Ogino, president of Tokyo-based NS Group, thinks offering flexible hours is a must for filling jobs in the service industry, where women comprise most of the workforce. The company, which operates karaoke venues and hotels, offers 30 different scheduling patterns, including a four-day workweek, but also taking long periods off in between work.
To ensure none of the NS Group’s workers feel penalized for choosing an alternative schedule, Ogino asks each of her 4,000 employees twice a year how they want to work. Asserting individual needs can be frowned upon in Japan, where you are expected to sacrifice for the common good.
“The view in Japan was: You are cool the more hours you work, putting in free overtime,” Ogino said with a laugh. “But there is no dream in such a life.”
Labor Day hotel strikes reflect frustrations
Workforce is largely made up of women of color
BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press
More than 10,000 workers at 25 hotels across the U.S. were on strike Monday after choosing Labor Day weekend to amplify their demands for higher pay, fairer workloads and the reversal of COVID-era cuts.
The UNITE HERE union, which represents the striking housekeepers and other hospitality workers, said 200 workers at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor were the latest to walk off the job.
Nearly half of the striking workers — or 5,000 — are in Honolulu. That includes Briana Canencia, a food server for over a decade at a Marriott property who said she was on the picket line fighting for not only higher wages, but also respect amid reduced hours and increased workloads.
Canencia, who is Native Hawaiian, said she works a second job in order to provide for her two kids, and yet they live paycheck-to-paycheck. She said she worries that her family will soon be “ priced out of paradise.”
“It’s very important to me to be able to raise my children here and get them familiar with their ancestral home, because our blood is here, our family is here,” she said. “We deserve to be here.”
Thousands of workers are also on strike in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and San Jose, California. The strikes targeting Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotels were set to last one to three days.
UNITE HERE said a total of 15,000 workers have voted to au-
thorize strikes, which could soon spread to other cities, including New Haven, Connecticut; Oakland, California; and Providence, Rhode Island.
Union President Gwen Mills says the strikes are part of a long-standing battle to secure family-sustaining compensation for service workers on par with more traditionally male-dominated industries. “Hospitality work overall is undervalued, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s disproportionately women and people of color doing the work,” Mills said.
Lack of benefits a burden
Alma Navarro, 60, has worked as a banquet server in San Jose for more than half of her life. These days, her body moves slower than it used to. It’s part of the reason she says she wasn’t afraid to walk off the job this weekend.
“To tell you the truth, it was not hard because I know that we need change,” she said. For Navarro, who works at a Hilton property, that means improved health care
coverage, a living wage and higher employer contributions to her pension. Without those changes addressed in a new contract, she said she fears she won’t be able to retire or even visit a doctor if she’s sick or injured, which has been the case a few times in recent years. If Navarro isn’t scheduled to work at least 80 hours in a month, she loses her health insurance coverage. “Whenever I don’t have coverage,” she said, “I just pray to God: Please don’t let me get sick this month.”
Unionized housekeepers want to reinstate automatic daily room cleaning at major hotel chains, saying they have been saddled with unmanageable workloads, or in many cases, fewer hours and a decline in income. Many hotels cut services during the coronavirus pandemic and never restored them.
But hotels say guests are no longer asking for daily room cleaning and some other services.
Hyatt and Hilton both said Monday that they have contingency plans in place to minimize the impact of the strikes at their hotels. Marriott didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Michael D’Angelo, the head of labor relations for Hyatt in the Americas, said in a statement Monday that the chain offers competitive wages and benefits, including in the markets where workers are striking.
“We are disappointed that UNITE HERE has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate,” D’Angelo said. “We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees.”
Hilton said through a spokesperson that it remains “committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements that are beneficial to both our valued team members and to our hotels.”
UNITE HERE hopes to replicate its recent success in Southern California, where after repeated strikes it won significant wage hikes, increased employer contributions to pensions and fair workload guarantees in a new contract with 34 hotels. Under the contract, housekeepers at most hotels will earn $35 an hour by July 2027.
Those wins also follow what the Culinary Workers Union, UNITE HERE’s affiliate in Nevada, has described as the “ best contracts ever “ for tens of thousands of hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip that include a 32-percent pay increase over five years, housekeeping workload reductions and improved job security amid advancements in technology and artificial intelligence.
The AP’s Rio Yamat contributed to this report
Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Photo
A Nissan Motor Co. factory worker on an assembly line at its plant in Yokohama, near Tokyo. The Japanese government has launched a “work style reform” campaign that promotes shorter hours and other flexible arrangements along with overtime limits and paid annual leave.
Benjamin Fanjoy/AP Photo
A group marched in support of striking hotel workers near San Francisco’s Union Square Monday.
In the nearly 23 years since the attack, the fatalities associated with 9/11 are still mounting. Each year, scores of first responders and rescue and recovery workers, including civilian and uniformed personnel, continue to die from 9/11 related ailments.
Included among the casualties are nearly 60 Sergeants. Their average age was just 54 years old, and they left behind scores of heartbroken family members, friends, and colleagues.
We vow to never forget the gallantry and sacrifice of these fallen heroes, who will always be held in our highest esteem and be part of the SBA and NYPD families. They are:
7 Precinct/Manhattan South
Brian Latva, 106 Precinct/Queens South
Troy Peacock, 73 Precinct/Brooklyn North
Joseph Robinson, 44 Precinct/Bronx
Cliff Thieleke, PBMN/Manhattan North
Douglas Walden, ESS 1/SOD/ESU
Sgt. Timothy Roy, age 36
NYPD members included Sgts. John Coughlin, Michael Curtin, Rodney Gillis, and Timothy Roy.
JOB HIGHLIGHT
The current minimum salary for assistant stock workers in the bargaining unit represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1181 and Local 1179 is $24.57 per hour for a 40-hour work week increasing to $35.11 per hour in the sixth year of service.
The current minimum salary for assistant stock worker in the bargaining unit represented by the Transport Workers Union, Local 100 is $26.07 per hour increasing to $37.25 per hour in the sixth year of service.
Benefits of this position include
night and weekend salary differentials, paid holidays, vacation and sick leave, a comprehensive medical plan and a pension plan.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Assistant stock workers, under supervision, receive, check, classify, store and distribute materials and supplies at the storerooms and facilities of the MTA Bus Company system. This includes the operation of all material handling equipment; data processing and maintenance of inventory transaction documents; the loading and unloading of trucks; all activities related to normal warehousing and distribution functions; keeping records; taking inventory; handling obsolete and scrap materials; driving automotive vehicles; and performing related work.
Assistant stock workers load and unload vehicles; operate forklifts
and hi-los and other machinery; climb and descend ladders; lift objects up to 75 lbs. without the use of a mechanical device; and work outdoors in all weather conditions.
REQUIREMENTS
External candidates must have either A) two years of full-time satisfactory experience as a stock assistant, stock clerk, stock worker or shipping and receiving clerk in an industrial, manufacturing, or wholesaling warehouse or similar large-scale environment; or B) three years of full-time satisfactory experience performing the duties as a stock assistant, stock clerk, stock worker or shipping and receiving clerk performing the work in a retail environment which stocks automotive, machine, marine maintenance tools, production parts, or plumbing, hardware or sheet metal supplies and tools.
Up to one year of experience as a supervisor or manager overseeing the work described in “A” above can be substituted for up to one year of the experience described in “A” above. This position is also open to each employee of MTA Bus Company who is employed in the title of cleaner-helper or maintainer’s helper and is not otherwise ineligible.
SELECTION METHOD
Candidates may be asked to participate in one or more of the following: an education and experience test, a written assessment, a practical skills assessment and/or a structured interview. Applicants must keep their contact information (email, mailing, phone) up to date.
Appointees may be required to undergo a formalized training course during your probationary
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.
➤ OPEN CONTINUOUSLY
5123/5323
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COMPUTER OPERATIONS
CLOSE SEPTEMBER 11
60001690 Personnel Clerk/Human Resources Clerk, NHCC $41,883$54,817
85239010 Superintendent of Water Authority or District (Administrative) $120,000-$193,000
88105010 Vocational Test Aide $40,291$73,941
88258010 Medical Records Aide $40,375$54,817
88885010 Human Resources Analyst, NHCC $70,100-$84,507
89301010 Insurance Technician I $53,581-$111,654
89533010 Medical Records Assistant
$48,027-$66,600
89534010 Cashier I/Cashier $30,360$59,445; NHCC: $37,235-$48,780
89595010 Medical Record Coder I $51,486-$72,089
–122 eligibles between Nos. 9 and 277 on List 9046 for 2 jobs in DOITT.
COMPUTER SPECIALIST (SOFTWARE) –22 eligibles between Nos. 27 and 1327 on List 1139 for 1 job at Administration for Children’s Services.
FORENSIC MORTUARY TECHNICIAN–18 eligibles between Nos. 15 and 51 on List 3100 for 5 jobs in DOHMH.
FRAUD INVESTIGATOR–13 eligibles between Nos. 189 and 607.5 on List 2079 for 1 job in DEP.
MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR–3 eligibles (Nos. 536, 618 and 729) on List 8302 for any of 6 jobs in Police Department.
PROCUREMENT ANALYST–44 eligibles between Nos. 72 and 432.5 on List 1194 for 1 job in DEP.
PROGRAM EVALUATOR (ACS)–56 eligibles between Nos. 74 and 192 on List 3022 for 2 jobs at ACS.
RADIO REPAIR MECHANIC–5 eligibles (Nos. 60, 62, 63, 64 and 65) on List 2054 for 1 job in FDNY.
PROMOTION ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER–17 eligibles between Nos. 10 and 59 on List 1552 for 1 job in Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
ASSOCIATE PUBLIC HEALTH SANI-
TARIAN–2 eligibles (Nos. 2 and 3) on List 3509 for 1 job in DEP.
GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT (SANITATION)–196 eligibles between Nos. 40 and 239 on List 1534 for 15 jobs in DSNY.
SUPERVISOR CARPENTER–2 eligibles (Nos. 2 and 6) on List 564 for 1 job in DOT.
TOWER OPERATOR–114 eligibles between Nos. 338 and 596 on List 8729 for 25 jobs at NYC Transit.
TRAIN SERVICE SUPERVISOR–4 eligibles (Nos. 151, 194, 338 and 402) on List 8703 for any of 20 jobs at NYC Transit.
7078 CR(D) Cytotechnologist I $43,863$91,243 7094 CR(D) Cytotechnologist II $52,099$108,383 7095 CR(D) Cytotechnologist III $66,357$132,168 61-639 CR Librarian I $43,000-$61,333 60-180 CR Librarian I, Bilingual (Spanish Speaking) 5263 CR(D) Medical Technologist I $31,963-$74,978
5002 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Acute Care) $59,507-$108,383
5003 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Adult Health) $59,507-$108,383
5004 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Community Health) $59,507$108,383
5005 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Family Health) $59,507-$108,383
5006 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Gerontology) $59,507-$108,383
5007 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Neonatology) $59,507-$108,383
5008 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Obstetrics/Gynecology) $59,507$108,383
5009 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Oncology)
$59,507-$108,383
5010 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Palliative Care) $59,507-$108,383
5011 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Pediatrics)
$59,507-$108,383
5012 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Perinatology) $59,507-$108,383
5013 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Psychiatry) $59,507-$108,383
5014 CR Nurse Practitioner I (Women’s Health) $59,507-$108,383
3138 CR(D) Occupational Therapist Assistant $31,963-$74,207
7288 CR(D) Occupational Therapist/ Occupational Therapist I $37,093$128,172 3139 CR(D) Pharmacist I $56,636$117,533 3140 CR(D) Physical Therapist Assistant $31,963-$74,207
SUFFOLK COUNTY EXAMS
➤ CLOSE SEPTEMBER 11
5501 Correction Officer I $49,721
0177 Public Safety Dispatcher I $47,450
➤ CLOSE SEPTEMBER 18 0101 Call Center Representative $35,000 0163 Senior Police Operations Aide
Medical Services Specialist $76,708 2670 Emergency Medical Technician (Basic) $37,000-$60,000 2673 Emergency Medical Technician (Critical Care) $37,000-$60,000 2674 Emergency Medical Technician (Paramedic) $37,000-$60,000
Social Worker $52,017
2701 Drug Counselor $47,502
WESTCHESTER EXAMS
➤ CLOSE SEPTEMBER 9
85-870010 Senior Engineering Technician (Traffic) $59,195$73,785
87-468010 Assistant Engineer (Traffic) $85,275-$113,665
➤ CLOSE SEPTEMBER 13
60-001280 Director – Nor-West
89-589010 Staff Assistant (Contract Management) $59,195-$73,785
➤ CLOSE SEPTEMBER 30
61-655010 Assistant Environmental Chemist (Inorganic) $71,800$89,305 64-210010 Environmental Chemist (Inorganic) $76,780-$101,940
68-789010 Environmental Chemist (Organic) $76,780-$101,940
68-963010 Assistant Environmental Chemist (Organic) $71,800-$89,305 69-316010 Assistant Environmental Chemist (Environmental Facilities)
period. Failure to successfully complete the training course may result in termination. Appointees must have a driver’s license valid in the State of New York with no disqualifying restrictions that would preclude the performance of the duties of this title. The license must be maintained for the duration of employment in the title. They also must pass a drug screening. City residency is not required for this position.
A promotion examination for this title is being held or eligible MTA Bus Company employees. The names appearing on the promotion list will be considered first in filling vacancies.
For complete information of the position and its requirements, including on how to apply, go to https:// new.mta.info/document/148971.