Jobs and Labor

Quit Your Media Job Today: A Freelancing Endorsement

On Friday afternoon I got a frustrated message from a fellow music writer. AOL Music, she said, was closing down. Soon thereafter employees of the media property, including Spinner editor Dan Reilly confirmed the news. "Well, we all just got laid off," he Tweeted. "AOL Music is finished." My first ... More >>

A Decade On, Freelancers Union Founder Sara Horowitz Takes Her Fight Mainstream

Hive mind

Cuomo's Push for Minimum Wage Hike is a Good Start, But it's Not Quite Enough, Critics Say

Low-wage workers and advocates took New York City by storm at the close of last year with mass demonstrations across the city for better wages and work-place conditions. Thus, one might assume that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call for a $1.50 minimum wage increase during his annual State of the State add ... More >>

At Con-Ed Lockout Protest, Unions Embrace Class War

The Con Edison lockout of 8,500 workers is now well into its third week, and there doesn't appear to be any end is in sight. Negotiations between the utility giant and members of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 resume today, but sources inside the negotiations say so recent talks ha ... More >>

"Cypress Hills Weed And Seed Job Fair" Is Not What You Think (Hope) It Is

If you go to the "Cypress Hills Weed and Seed Job Fair" in Brooklyn tomorrow and expect to come away with a sweet gig farming marijuana, you will be extremely disappointed.We got an email this afternoon from the United States Attorney's Office alerting us to the aforementioned job fair. Normally, em ... More >>

Happy May Day: NY Post Columnist Nicole Gelinas Argues Against Living Wage Bill (Of Course)

No shocker here, but a New York Post op-ed contributor is peddling the same misleading bullshit about minimum wage increases that opponents always peddle. Enter Nicole Gelinas. Raising minimum wage -- as per the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act -- is "left-wing social engineering." (Classic Post p ... More >>

Is New York's Minimum Wage Too Damn Low?

If you've been following recent developments in the capital, you've probably heard that Dems in Albany have been pushing for a $1.25 minimum wage increase -- from $7.25 to $8.50. And most New Yorkers would be OK with this boost. This change would impact more than 600,000 New Yorkers who are someho ... More >>

Occupy Wall Street Affiliates Chain Subway Gates Open For Fare Strike

A group calling itself the "Rank and File Initiative" claimed credit yesterday for opening up more than 20 subway stations throughout the city for free entry. Chaining open emergency gates at stations on the F, L, R, Q, 3, and 6 lines during rush hour yesterday morning, the anonymous activists post ... More >>

Freelancers, Rejoice! Christine Quinn Pushes Forward With Health Center Plan

In her state-of-the-city address last month, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, announced that the City Council would work with the Freelancers Union to launch a flagship health center that would provide low-cost care to the city's self-employed residents. This ... More >>

State Democrats Will Propose Minimum Wage Raise Today

Fast food workers and retail employees everywhere -- rejoice! Democrats in Albany, led by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, will today propose a raise in the New York state minimum wage, from $7.25 an hour to $8.50. The proposal will also include a provision mandating automatic increases in the futur ... More >>

Let's Be Clear: NFL Players Smacked Down the Owners

NFL players' honcho DeMaurice Smith​As you may have heard, the NFL lockout ended just a short time ago, and since the TV commentators I'm hearing seem to be confused about who actually came out on top, let me give it to you straight. I'll repeat my words in this space on April 27: "I think I can c ... More >>

NBA Owners Will Lock Out Players at Midnight

​Labor negotiations between NBA team owners and players broke down this afternoon as the two sides couldn't reach a new collective bargaining agreement. The players union presented an offer that was rejected by the owners at their three-hour meeting in New York. This comes after one of the lea ... More >>

Wall Street Bonuses Down, But Nobody's Making Less

With profits higher than ever on Wall Street, executives are starting to shift their compensation packages away from bonuses and into higher salaries, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said in an annual report today. While Wall Street salaries were up by six percent in 2010, bonuses declined by 8 perc ... More >>

House Republicans Give Unemployed the Finger

​Almost 100,000 unemployed New Yorkers whose unemployment benefits are expiring will have a very not-so-merry Christmas this year now that House Republicans have killed a proposed $56 billion benefits extension, the Daily News says.

Gov. Paterson Looks to "Sinister" Union Heads for NY State Layoffs-by-the-Thousands Woes

​New York Governor David Paterson is now talking about laying off thousands of state workers as part of a plan to balance the state budget. And he just brought some state workers' union leaders into the fold, by talking some serious smack on them.

Black Parents vs. the Teachers' Union

Union intransigence hits a low point

Mass Transit Cuts Leave Passengers Stranded

Big wheels unmoved

Citigroup Plans to Raise Executive Salaries Up To 50%

​According to Bloomberg News, Citigroup Inc., which got $45 billion dollars in bailout money from the federal government, will be raising the base salaries of their investment bankers and traders as much as 50%. Citigroup's market value dropped 84% in the past year.

Unions to Bloomy: Un-Happy Term Limits Birthday

The one-year anniversary of Mike Bloomberg's term-limits flip-flop is being celebrated today by a pair of unions who chose the date to announce their endorsement of Bill Thompson for mayor -- while throwing in some tough language about the incumbent. Electricians Local Union No. 3, one of the city' ... More >>

Minimum Wage Increases Today, But Tipped Employees Still Shafted

Marcin Wichary/flickr The federal minimum wage increases to $7.25 today. And that's good news, unless you happen to be a bartender or waiter. According to a report released by the National Employment Law Project, the wage for tipped employees will remain a measly $2.13 per hour. That rate, the ... More >>

GOP Congressman Apologizes for Obscene Anti-Union Video

It's getting so you can't even make a bleeping joke in politics anymore. GOP House Whip Eric Cantor, angry about an ad from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that unfavorably mentions him as an opponent of the stimulus, forwarded to a reporter at the liberal Talking P ... More >>

Ron Carey, 1936-2008

Passing the bucks

Hoffa & Obama: The Labor-Latte Alliance

Now divorced from the mob, the Teamsters choose a Bobby Kennedy type for president

A Teamster Big Dips His Beak

The Sinner Within

How Brian McLaughlin betrayed the labor movement and conned us all

Labor Big Takes a Walk

Labor War in Chelsea

For the first time, non-union immigrants are building Manhattan's high-rise towers

Peace March: Largest Labor Contingent Ever?

Malice's Restaurant

What Rao's and a gangster-run school bus drivers' union have in common

Toussaint's Transit Trauma

Union big walked a tightrope between enemies abroad and at home

The Fonz's Pitch

Open door policy

NYC Transit Workers Reject Contract

Report: Strike End in Sight

The Strike is Over

Transit Breaks

Transit Countdown

Labor Bigs Hit NYU

Labor Costs

Union endorsements are dirty, if the mayor loses them

Bush to Rebuild New Orleans, Somehow

President throws expensive bag of gimmicks at Katrina disaster

Mike's Labor Love Fest

The New Movement Against Wal-Mart

Fresh blood joins the battle to keep the mega-retailer out of NYC

Union Gap

At AFL-CIO, a splitting issue for the nation's biggest labor organizations

Helping Bloomberg?

Fulani aide sues union

Democrats Miss Key Endorsement

Let Them Eat Comp Time

Bush, Congress nix minimum wage hike, push tough bankruptcy bill

Bush's Other War

At the national labor relations board, the president's appointees change the rules

Labor's Beef with Bush

In the brave new world of outsourcing, you get to train your own replacement worker

Challenge to a Quiet Boss

Flying squads, charges of dirty tricks by incumbent plague a teamster local election