By Joe Maniscalco

This week marked the 15th anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. But just a small band of activists, many of whom were at the Zuccotti Park encampment in Lower Manhattan that sparked the whole movement back in 2011, were on hand Sept. 17 to actually mark the occasion.

Jerry Ashton, “unintended activist” and proud son of a union trucker out of the state of Oregon, was one of them.

By Joe Maniscalco

New Yorkers increasingly outraged at the “deliberate” and “systemic” starvation of Palestinian families in Gaza—and the U.S. role in perpetuating the slaughter—shut down traffic at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn on Sunday, resulting in the arrest of 17 refusing to abandon the protest.

By Joe Maniscalco

New York City’s already ugly battle to end round-the-clock shifts in the home care industry took a brutal turn this past week outside the Chinese-American Planning Council’s 60th Anniversary gala on Wall Street when police hauled off 14 people and charged them with disorderly conduct.

By Steve Wishnia

Doctors at four New York City public hospitals have set a strike deadline for Jan. 13—and one of the contractors that employs them is encouraging coworkers to cross picket lines if they walk out. Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, has asked the parties to go into mediation for 60 days.

By Joe Maniscalco

A couple of weeks ago, Marianne Pizzitola, head of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees [NYCOPSR], approached CWA Local 1180 President Gloria Middleton during a union rally outside City Hall and asked if the two could talk about the ongoing campaign to privatize municipal healthcare.

“I really don’t have time,” Middleton responded…

By Bob Hennelly

Within hours of a New York State Court decision “permanently” enjoining Mayor Eric Adams from forcing 250,000 retired civil servants into the for-profit Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan, one of the New York City Council’s most powerful members announced his support of legislation [Intro-1099] that would further protect retirees’ traditional Medicare coverage.

By Bob Hennelly

New York labor unions are in the forefront of the latest drive to secure permanent funding for the 9/11 World Trade Center Health Program, which is set to run out of funding without Congressional action.

By Bob Hennelly

Citing a 96-percent compliance rate from the municipal workforce, the City of New York will no longer require civil servants to get the COVID vaccine Mayor Eric Adams announced today. The vax mandate resulted in the termination of 1,780 municipal workers and sparked multiple lawsuits which are ongoing.

By Bob Hennelly with Joe Maniscalco

“I guess the MLC and the mayor decided they wanted retirees to ring in the New Year with a ‘Screw you — we’re gonna do this when you’re not looking!”