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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
NFL players' honcho DeMaurice SmithAs 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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.
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.
Union intransigence hits a low point
Big wheels unmoved
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.
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
Now divorced from the mob, the Teamsters choose a Bobby Kennedy type for president
How Brian McLaughlin betrayed the labor movement and conned us all
For the first time, non-union immigrants are building Manhattan's high-rise towers
What Rao's and a gangster-run school bus drivers' union have in common
Union big walked a tightrope between enemies abroad and at home
Open door policy
Union endorsements are dirty, if the mayor loses them
President throws expensive bag of gimmicks at Katrina disaster
Fresh blood joins the battle to keep the mega-retailer out of NYC
At AFL-CIO, a splitting issue for the nation's biggest labor organizations
Fulani aide sues union
Bush, Congress nix minimum wage hike, push tough bankruptcy bill
At the national labor relations board, the president's appointees change the rules
In the brave new world of outsourcing, you get to train your own replacement worker
Flying squads, charges of dirty tricks by incumbent plague a teamster local election
