Posts tagged Andrew Cuomo
Commentar: Why the UAW Endorsed Zohran When Other New York City Unions Held Back
August 11, 2025 // The UAW’s risky endorsement of Mamdani would never have happened without the transformation of the union that occurred over the past half-decade. After a serious of corruption and embezzlement scandals led to the removal and conviction of top UAW officials, the union reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that required a national referendum on adopting direct election of union leadership.
As doormen and porters prepare for strike, NYC luxury condo labor dispute divides Cuomo backers
May 27, 2025 // Gutierrez and his colleagues said they may go on strike as early as Thursday if the board and developer Lightstone Real Estate Partners don’t agree to the new contract. It would be an unusual stoppage at a single building organized by the influential 32BJ union. There were two such strikes last year, a union spokesperson said. The dispute also reveals strange bedfellows in the race for New York City mayor. Campaign finance records show Lightstone contributed $100,000 to the SuperPAC backing Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid, just weeks before 32BJ formally endorsed the former governor in the Democratic primary. When asked for comment on the dispute between Cuomo’s two benefactors, his campaign referred questions to his SuperPAC, Fix the City.
Cuomo’s education plan filled with goodies for powerful teachers’ union — as he tones down support of charter schools
May 21, 2025 // “Cuomo is definitely playing ball with the teachers’ union,” said a longtime political insider. His plan does promote other initiatives backed by the UFT and public school teachers, such as more early childhood education programs and “community schools” with wraparound health services. He also backed implementing the UFT-backed class size reduction law with adequate state funding.
NYC firefighter unions back Andrew Cuomo for mayor, solidifying labor support
May 13, 2025 // He has secured the lion’s share of endorsements from labor unions compared to his rivals including: the Teamsters, health care workers 1199SEIU, 32BJ SEIU, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and most of the construction trade unions. UFA, which represents 20,000 firefighters, endorsed Andrew Yang in the 2021 primary while current Mayor Eric Adams. had been previously received support from the UFOA — which has 7,500 members including lieutenants, captains, battalion chiefs, deputy chiefs, supervising fire marshals and medical officers.
How New York Can Prevent Another Prison Worker Strike
March 7, 2025 // The governor should hold both sides to account. She needs a handshake deal with lawmakers to restore some of the discretion that prison superintendents previously wielded to impose solitary confinement in the most extreme cases. Such an agreement can be codified in the forthcoming state budget. In return, state law should require every DOCCS employee to wear a body camera whenever in the presence of an inmate and give the department more latitude in curbing the arrival of drugs and contraband. Finally, Hochul needs to identify and terminate the strike’s instigators. Any capitulation, real or perceived, will tempt other public employees to instigate their own illegal strikes—though some of damage in this regard has already been done.
An embattled Adams gathers his union allies at Gracie Mansion
January 31, 2025 // Mayor Eric Adams, who has been laying low with a reported medical condition this week, hosted two union presidents at Gracie Mansion on Monday night as he contemplates his political future. The meetings — confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of them, who were granted anonymity to freely discuss a private event — come as Adams grapples with an upcoming corruption trial, sagging poll numbers and dire financial problems.
Blue State Just Let Teachers Unions Off The Hook For Failing Public Schools
July 12, 2024 // Under the new law, teachers’ unions will be able to collectively bargain over performance reviews, preventing ineffective teachers from facing any consequences, according to the WSJ. New York spends almost twice the national average on education at $29,873 per pupil, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
New York measures to fire ineffective teachers repealed
July 2, 2024 // In addition, teacher evaluations will no longer have to consider test scores, student growth scores and other measures that the state tried to use from 2010 until when the pandemic hit in 2020.
Chief of MTA’s biggest union promises ‘massive confrontation’ over $15 NYC congestion toll: ‘Not going to take this’
March 11, 2024 // The chief of the MTA’s biggest union — which once supported New York’s controversial congestion pricing plan — is now threatening a “massive confrontation” with transit management over the proposed $15 daily toll to enter Midtown or Lower Manhattan. The head of the national Transport Workers Union, John Samuelsen, issued the threat in an interview on Thursday, which came just days after he escalated his battle with Gov. Kathy Hochul and her MTA chairman, Janno Lieber, by placing a full-page ad in Monday’s Post recruiting a primary challenge for the Democrat.
NY Gov. Hochul and teachers union at odds
February 21, 2023 // The “Pay and Resolve” bill, which would require health insurers to pay hospital billing claims immediately without reviewing the medical necessity of the billing claims, was publicly opposed by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). The union claimed that the proposal could lead to a hike in costs for union members. UFT President Michael Mulgrew explained, “The added costs are passed along to us. That is silly and that has got to stop.” Other unions joined UFT’s opposition, such as Teamsters and SEIU Local 32 BJ. Her proposal, which is a part of the state budget proposal, would keep the current state cap of 460 charter schools but free up 85 more slots for new charter schools across the state by eliminating regional caps. The proposal would create more slots for charter schools in New York City, which currently has a cap of 275 charter schools. In a statement, Hochul said, “I believe every student deserves a quality education, and we are proposing to give New York families more options and opportunities to succeed.”