Posts tagged New York City Council
Mamdani Clashes With Teachers Union, Citing Fiscal Constraints
August 30, 2026 // Michael Mulgrew, the president of the 200,000-member teachers union, threatened an “all-out war” if Mamdani tried to stop the legislation in a New York Times interview earlier this summer. “It’s always surprising when you see a big rift between the teachers unions and Democratic politicians, especially a pretty far-left Democratic politician,” said Michael Petrilli, president of Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education reform think tank. “Conventional wisdom would say that Democratic politicians try not to get sideways with important parts of their constituency and the teachers unions are such an important base.” The fight has also exposed the realities Mamdani faces now that he is in office to follow through on campaign promises when faced with fiscal constraints.
Teachers’ Union Boss Vows ‘All-Out-War’ if Mamdani Doesn’t Back Bonuses
July 27, 2026 // The legislation would cost New York City $325 million. The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan watchdog group that opposes the bill, warned that it would set a “dangerous precedent” by encouraging unions to bypass the bargaining table and appeal directly to lawmakers.
Legal action threatened over NYC plan to hike delivery worker pay
August 9, 2025 // "This pain would be felt most acutely by the city’s independent grocers — those without the scale or cushion of national chains," the group wrote in an op-ed published earlier this week. "New York’s Independent grocers are already facing historic challenges, including inflation, soaring rents, rising retail theft, shrinking margins, and the rapid expansion of chain supermarkets and big-box retailers.
Op-Ed: Mayor Adams seeks to pour more good money after bad in surrender to teaching unions before election
December 2, 2024 // This is madness: The city Department of Education spends about $30,000 per student; there’s no reason to spend even more on schools that are teaching ever-fewer kids. No reason except for the fact that those schools would need to lay off teachers to meet their new budgets, and the UFT is outraged at the thought of losing a dime in dues.
NEW YORK: Hochul Report Whitewashes Teachers Union Antisemitism; Commentary
October 31, 2024 // Months before Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, a CUNY Law commencement speaker delivered what one commentator described as a “Nuremburg-style screed” against Israel, accusing it of murder and lynchings. CUNY’s administration called the speech “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, the PSC, led by Davis, demanded that CUNY — not the speaker — retract its statement. After the Oct. 7 attacks, the union allowed “CUNY4Palestine” to promote anti-Israel rallies on the union’s email list and later condemned Columbia University for dispersing a pro-Hamas student encampment.
As L.A. City Hall staffers consider unionizing, competing unions seek to woo them
September 12, 2023 // The city work force, like the vast majority of the public sector work force across California, is heavily unionized. Staffers for elected officials, however, have long been at-will employees — they can be hired without dealing with civil service requirements, but also lack the protections that a civil service job confers. That’s the norm for staffers to elected officials across the country. But the City Hall effort is far from an outlier.
COVID vaccine mandate for New York City workers ends, unions pushing for back pay
February 14, 2023 // The city's mandate for public workers ended Friday, after nearly 2,000 municipal workers were let go during the pandemic because they refused to be vaccinated.