Will the Blue Wave End Up Swamping the DSA, too?
By Joe Maniscalco
The Democratic Socialists of America [DSA] can feel pretty good after the November 3 blue wave, posting a .482 batting average with 79 out of 164 DSA-endorsed candidates winning their races, according to the latest stats.
If this was baseball, the DSA would be on track to waltz into the Hall of Fame whistling “Solidarity Forever.”
Dems Just Being Dems? Senior Party Leaders Threaten to Make Rep-Elect Don Leonard’s Tenure a ‘Living Hell’
By Joe Maniscalco
It didn’t take the Democratic Party leadership long to prove Robert Ovetz correct.
Earlier this week, noted labor author and academic Robert Ovetz told Work-Bites that despite the historic blue wave that swept across the country on November 3, we should expect the Democratic Party leadership to do things the way they’ve always done them.
Hegseth Impeachment Effort Falls Short
By Bob Hennelly
In a 211 to 204 vote the House of Representatives voted to table the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the lone Republican to vote to move forward. Twenty Republicans were not present as were eleven Democrats.
No Escape From Austerity For Students On Either Side of the Atlantic…
By Eilean Faltin
On my first day at the University of Edinburgh, my teachers told me that classes were cancelled for the next five weeks because of strikes over massive budget cuts. Despite barely stepping foot into a lecture hall, I immediately became part of a fierce battle against the university’s unpopular leadership, as well as the wider student revolt against austerity erupting all across Europe.
After Midterm Elections, Democracy Marchers Think About What’s Next
By Steve Wishnia
“We won, but now we need to get to work,” Aidan Wise, 22, told Work-Bites as the Nov. 7 March for Our Democracy neared its end, heading south on Seventh Avenue toward 14th Street.
Listen: Trump-MAGA Tried to Revive the Confederacy and Sparked the 3rd Reconstruction Instead
By Bob Hennelly
The Democratic Party's dramatic blue wave has the GOP off-balance and struggling to find its footing even as its authoritarian ICE machine continued to terrorize. The post-election celebratory coverage masks the ongoing brutality of the moment.
‘Billionaires Will Not Win the War;’ Union Coalition Vows to Press Prop 40 Fight
By Steve Wishnia
With a ballot initiative to levy a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ wealth apparently headed for defeat, the California unions who sponsored it say they’re going to try again.
This Blue Wave Comes Union Made!
By Steve Wishnia
Last month, as more than 1,000 union members rallied to launch a labor campaign to protect the midterm elections from tampering by the Trump administration, New York City Central Labor Council President Brendan Griffith told Work-Bites they were working for a large turnout. He said he hoped “that these races are not close and that the results are clear.”
NYC Managerial Employees Association Hails Heroes Standing Up for Retirees and Intro. 1008
By Joe Maniscalco
This past Thursday, members of the New York City Managerial Employees Association [MEA] took time out from their steadfast advocacy on behalf of public service workers to honor fellow advocate Marianne Pizzitola, head of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees [NYCOPSR], and New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson [D-35th District].
Home Care Workers Cheated Out of Millions Blast ‘Korrupt Kathy’ Hochul Ahead of Election
By Joe Maniscalco
Ripped off home care workers who have watched their wage theft claims vanish into a bureaucratic blackhole under New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s watch, pressed their demands for justice and restitution this week—openly charging the chief executive with a cocktail of corruption, misogyny, and racism less than two weeks until the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election.
Mamdani Denounces Amazon’s ‘Exploitation’ of Delivery Workers
By Steve Wishnia
More than 200 people, mostly Teamsters Union members, rallied on the steps of City Hall Oct. 22, calling on the City Council to pass the Delivery Protection Act, a bill to curb outsourcing of delivery work by Amazon and other companies.
NYC Council Speaker Calls Ongoing EMS Crisis ‘Unconscionable’
By Joe Maniscalco
The City of New York must act now to pay Emergency Medical Services EMTs and paramedics a living wage, City Council Speaker Julie Menin declared on Tuesday.
Listen: More on NYC Labor Unions Defending Upcoming Elections
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of We Decide on WBAI we welcome Work-Bites correspondent Steve Wishnia to talk more about the Oct. 15 labor rally on the steps of the Farley Post Office that drew close to a thousand people and representatives from dozens of unions.
‘Democracy’s on the Line’: NYC Unions Unite to Protect Elections
By Steve Wishnia
Hundreds of workers from a score of unions packed the two-block-wide steps of New York City’s main post office Oct. 15 for a rally launching a labor campaign to protect elections from tampering by the Trump administration.
Are the 9/11 Files Changing Anything? And Why Not?
By Joe Maniscalco
In the movie Jaws there was only one Mayor Larry Vaughn running around telling the good people of Amity that it was safe to get back into the water.
But as the recently-released 9/11 files show, the City of New York had a whole bunch of money-driven Mayor Larry Vaughns running around town after September 11, 2001 telling everybody it was safe to go back to their Lower Manhattan jobs and classrooms.
Listen: Mamdani Says ICE is ‘Rotten to the Core’ Following Shooting in the Bronx
By Bob Hennelly
It was just after 4 p.m. on Oct. 8, in the Marble Hill section of The Bronx with school just getting out and the streetscape was filled with kids and parents. It was in that setting that 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, in his Honda CR4, was confronted by masked ICE agents including one with a long gun.
Paging New York City’s Social Media Mayor…You Have Lots of Constituents On Hold!
By Joe Maniscalco
A recent Work-Bites Instagram post teasing a story about the EMS crisis facing New York City has garnered 12,949 views at the time of this writing—not an insignificant amount.
But because the Mayor’s Office has refused to acknowledge repeated requests for comment, that’s 12,949 times readers interested in learning Mayor Mamdani’s views, thoughts, and feelings about what happened at St. Francis Preparatory High School in Queens on the morning of Sept 28—were denied that right.
Listen: Home Care Workers, Tenants, and Retirees Continue to Bring the Heat Despite Mamdani’s Cold Shoulder
By Joe Maniscalco
This week’s Labor and Healthcare Confidential show featured advocates from both the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Tenants Against Demolition coalition—and the Ain’t I a Woman Campaign fighting to end the 24-hour workday in New York City’s home care industry.
Over the course of the lively hour-long interview with host Marianne Pizzitola we learned once again that the battle to save public housing from privatization and the “No More 24” fight to end round-the-clock shifts for home care workers—as well as the ongoing struggle to protect New York City municipal retiree healthcare from diminishment—are not disparate issues.
No More 24 Advocates Tell NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin: ‘Buckle Up, Girl’—This Fight is Not Over!
By Joe Maniscalco
Two women. Two City Council Speakers. Two machine party politicians proving once again that in the City of New York, big money and special interests count for a whole lot more than the needs of working people—and even more so if those working people happen to be older immigrant women of color.
Listen: War Abroad; Workers and EMS in Crisis at Home
By Bob Hennelly
The Guardian is reporting that in the US-Israel's war of choice on Iran, the US has dispatched a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as President Trump once again threatens that country with annihilation just weeks ahead of the US midterm elections.