Posts tagged Kathy Hochul
Long Island Rail Road Strike Looms, as M.T.A. and Unions Reach Impasse
April 13, 2026 // Five unions representing more than 3,500 workers have threatened for months to walk off the job unless they receive bigger raises than other divisions of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad. The unions, which represent engineers, machinists, signalmen and other jobs critical to the rail operation, are seeking a retroactive 9.5 percent wage increase covering the last three years — the same offered to many other New York transit and civil servant unions. But they also want an additional 5 percent raise starting in 2026. The M.T.A. has argued that such a divergence in pay would upset the typical pattern for wage increases established with other groups, and would not be feasible unless the unions compromised on other aspects of the contract.
Teachers union flexes on New York state budget: pension boosts or bust
April 1, 2026 // The UFT and other teacher unions are focused on lowering the age when someone can retire without penalty. Under Tier IV, public employees including teachers can retire at 55 if they’ve worked for 30 years. Under Tier VI, an employee must work until 63 in order to retire without losing half of their pension award. Opponents say there’s scant evidence that pensions are contributing to recruitment and retention challenges. Tier VI required employees hired after its 2012 enactment to contribute to the cost of their retirement for the duration of their employment, instead of just the first 10 years. It also set a later retirement age — all measures that are saving state and local governments an estimated $80 billion through 2042.
1199SEIU begins organizing after consumer directed home care overhaul
March 4, 2026 // This month, 1199SEIU sent letters about the effort to aides in the state’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, an $11 billion Medicaid program that allows disabled and elderly residents to hire and manage their own home care. The letter informs workers of a September agreement between 1199SEIU and the administrator, Georgia-based Public Partnerships, creating a process through which they can vote to join a union. The effort could add more than 250,000 members to the powerful union’s rolls, growing its already large base by as much as 55% and amplifying its influence in the city and state. The notice comes after Hochul’s controversial overhaul of the program, which centralized its administration and opened the door for organizing a new sector of labor.
Editorial: Hochul ‘anti-fraud’ scheme backfires into a taxpayer gift to a monster union
March 3, 2026 // After we and others flagged how loose eligibility rules and other issues had led to a 1,200% spike in CDPAP enrollment, soaring fraud and outlays of $11 billion, the gov used public outrage to pass a reform that she vowed would rein in the program. Yet her “solution” was simply to hire a single company, Public Partnerships, to centralize payments to these aides — which now lets them legally count as PPL employees, and so qualified to unionize.
Opinion Public unions’ stealthy scheme will siphon $100B from NY taxpayers
March 1, 2026 // In fact, many union leaders say their members shouldn’t have to pay anything toward their pensions. And it’s a matter of “equity” and “dignity,” they say, for teachers and office workers at state agencies to be able to retire with full pensions (plus taxpayer-funded retiree health insurance) at age 55. The unions want to “fix” these supposed injustices.
Transit union boss threatens to spend millions fighting ‘ignorant’ Hochul on MTA crew sizes
February 2, 2026 // The head of the powerful Transit Workers Union blasted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as “ignorant” as he threatened to spend millions “exposing” her as a spineless shill — and bring her the ugliest contract fight since the strike in 2005, when more than 30,000 workers walked off the job. TWU president John Samuelsen railed against Hochul on Friday, as they gear up to renegotiate their contract with the MTA, which is up in May. As governor, Hochul oversees the transport agency.
Nurses strike begins in New York City as thousands walk off jobs at major hospitals
January 12, 2026 // Montefiore Senior Vice President Joe Solmonese said, "NYSNA's leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job. We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last." A Mount Sinai spokesperson said, "Unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses – and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts."
GOP gov hopeful Blakeman woos NY labor, blasts Hochul vetoes of union friendly bills
January 7, 2026 // Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul for vetoing a bill that would have required two operators on every MTA train — as he makes an aggressive push to snag some union support from his Democratic rival. Blakeman, who is now serving as Nassau County executive, criticized Hochul for knocking down a union-backed bill that would have required two operators on every Metropolitan Transportation Authority train as well as a series of bills that would’ve sweetened pensions and benefits for law enforcement.
Editorial: Hochul’s home-care ‘fix’ may not be corrupt — but it’s sure a disaster
December 18, 2025 // The smoking gun email — obtained via a FOIL request by Empire Center watchdogs — confirms that state officials were in contact with reps for Public Partnership LLC, or PPL, weeks before lawmakers even authorized bidding on managing the home-care program, and long before PPL won the five-year, $1 billion contract to oversee CDPAP... That’s because the revamp has opened to door for powerhouse SEIU 1199 to turn those 400,000 home-care aides into union members; in exchange for its massive windfall in dues, 1199 will surely immediately start pushing for pay hikes and other benefits for them.
NY patients come last as 1199 SEIU angles for $200M-a-year Medicaid payday
December 15, 2025 // Hochul’s law makes PPL a private “employer,” so unionizing its caregivers would mean 1199 could force every one of them to pay a 2% tribute — or get fired. At the current number of CDPAP caregivers, 1199 would snag another $200 million a year. PPL is likely cooperating because doing so is something akin to buying protection from mobsters. Everyone in Albany has seen the 1199-financed attack ads lobbed at governors and other state officials who question the size or efficacy of Medicaid. If this unionization scheme succeeds, such public lobbying would explode. The union won’t just have an incentive to keep the caregiver sign-up rules loose — it will have a fiduciary duty to keep wasting public money, and to pressure lawmakers for more.