Posts tagged NYC
‘Delivery Protection Act’ Pits NYC Mayor Mamdani And The Teamsters Against Amazon
August 17, 2026 // Opposition comes from a broad-based business coalition—Amazon, FedEx, logistics and trucking firms, all five borough chambers of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Tech: NYC, the Supply Chain Federation, the Trucking Association of New York, the Five Borough Jobs Campaign and others. A study commissioned by the Five Borough Jobs Campaign estimated passage would increase annual delivery costs to New York households by $664 and threaten more than 10,000 city workers. With the bill pending a City Council vote, supporters have intensified their efforts to push the vote forward after Mayor Mamdani threw his support behind it—calling Amazon’s contractor-based delivery model exploitative and a danger to NYC workers, drivers and pedestrians.
America Invented Elevators. Now We Suck at Building Them.
August 12, 2026 // The second big problem is labor unions. Specifically, the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC), which has a near monopoly on elevator installation and repair work in America. Labor costs are the single biggest part of installing a new elevator, and the IUEC likes it that way. Elevator construction is the highest-paid speciality construction job in the U.S., with hourly wages in excess of $51 in 2024. The union keeps those costs high by strictly controlling how many members it has: In 2021, more than 1,500 people applied to join New York City's local union of the IUEC. Only 115 were allowed to join.
NYC lifeguard ‘Boss of the Beach’ scores $570K pension on taxpayers’ tab: report
August 7, 2026 // A controversial former Big Apple chief city lifeguard nicknamed “Boss of the Beach” raked in a staggering $570,419 pension last year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit government watchdog. Ex chief lifeguard and union boss Peter Stein’s taxpayer-funded golden parachute comes after a longtime dual career where he also served full-time as a middle school gym teacher In Brooklyn — calling it quits while under investigation by the city Department of Investigation.
Second public defender union calls off strike
August 6, 2026 // The Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys – UAW Local 2325 union, which represents NDS staff, shared details of the temporary agreement with members on Tuesday. NDS also employs staff in Detroit and Texas, who were also on strike the past week.
Columbia student workers’ union drops Israel divestment demand amid contract negotiations
July 30, 2026 // Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers made pro-Palestinian activism a central tenet of its presence on campus since the start of the war in Gaza.
Second public defender union goes on strike
July 29, 2026 // The union said that during its most recent bargaining session, NDS management offered a one percent COLA and did not include no-cost healthcare over the term of the proposed three-year contract. NDS also has offices based in Texas and Michigan, where union members staged picket lines on Friday. The union was joined on their first day of striking by Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who previously worked at NDS Harlem as an investigator before winning the Democratic primary for New York's 13th congressional district in June.
Federal employees say they’ll quit if they have to move to New Jersey
July 28, 2026 // The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 98, representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New York District and North Atlantic Division employees, rallied outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday, protesting the proposed relocation of their offices to New Jersey. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Lander were among those who joined in person, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a statement in support, calling on the federal government to keep the employees in New York. Members of both the Democratic and Republican New York congressional delegations have sent letters to the Trump administration urging them to reconsider the move.
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.
Brooklyn Defender Services may strike if deal fails
July 16, 2026 // Nearly 500 employees could walk off the job, including 280 attorneys, 80 social workers, and 160 other staff members, such as paralegals and investigators.
Editorial: Randi Weingarten’s book sleaze might mean the end of corrupt teacher-union power
July 13, 2026 // Under Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Rick Allen (R-Ga.), the committee is following up on Post reporting on dubious transactions uncovered by the Freedom Foundation that amount to hundreds of thousands of AFT dollars spent to help produce the book Of course, that’s just a fraction of how union higherups profit from members’ dues: Weingarten’s pay is now $470,000 a year, not to mention ample perks. Maybe she’s worth it — to the union itself, at least: She’s been a Democratic Party powerbroker for decades, using that influence to protect the power of the AFT and its larger ally, the National Education Association.