By Steve Wishnia

Cleaners at two Manhattan office buildings went on strike Dec. 17, after the new cleaning contractor not only slashed their pay by $9 an hour, but cut their hours as well.

By Joe Maniscalco

Home care worker Luz Estrella, 73, stood on the sidewalk outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Third Avenue offices in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, Dec. 17 wondering why the most powerful woman in the state continues to oppose working class women like her fighting hard against wage theft.

By Steve Wishnia

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration won’t turn over records sought by 9/11 Health Watch while he’s in office.

For the tenth time since the group filed a Freedom of Information Law request in September 2023 for documents showing what the city government knew about health hazards in the Ground Zero area in 2001, the mayor’s office told them it was unable to provide them “due to the volume of requests that we have received.”

By Joe Maniscalco

New York State Assembly Member Tony Simone blew off at least two elderly NYCHA residents desperately fighting the demolition of their homes and dismissed them as nothing but “obstructionists” during a tenants’ conference held at Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan this past weekend, Work-Bites has learned.

By Steve Wishnia

State Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank has denied opponents of the city’s new self-funded health-care plan for employees a preliminary injunction that would stop it from going into effect on Jan. 1.

By Joe Maniscalco

Outgoing New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams [D-28th District] did everything she possibly could to bottle up legislation protecting municipal retirees fighting the privatization of their traditional Medicare benefits—but will City Council Member Julie Menin will be any different as the new Speaker?

By Steve Wishnia

State Supreme Court Judge David B. Cohen on Dec. 4 denied the New York City Housing Authority’s request for a preliminary injunction ordering eight Chelsea Addition senior-housing residents to accept relocation so the building can be demolished.

Editor’s Note: This story was revised to reflect the correct line-up of speakers scheduled to appear at tonight’s forum. They include CWA political director Hae-Lin Choi, Federal Unionists Network codirector Chris Dols, Dr. Alethia Jones, distinguished lecturer at the CUNY School of Labor Studies, and Nadine Williamson, Senior Executive V.P., 1199SEIU).

By Steve Wishnia

How can the labor movement harness widespread discontent to fight Trumpism and racism effectively? Four speakers will address that question on the evening of Dec. 3, in an event organized by 1199SEIU, the Communications Workers of America, the Federal Unionists Network, and the Left Labor Project.

By Joe Maniscalco

The worst has happened and you or a neighbor, or loved one needs emergency medical attention to survive. Thankfully, you’re a New Yorker and living in the richest city in the U.S. means emergency medical aid will be rushed to your doorstep in no time, and you’ll make it through okay.

Scratch that.

By Steve Wishnia

The new cleaning contractor at two recently sold Manhattan office buildings is cutting workers’ pay by almost 30% and eliminating their health-insurance coverage, according to the SEIU 32BJ union.

By Joe Maniscalco

The New York City Housing Authority does not yet have the green light it needs to go ahead with plans to demolish the Fulton & Elliott-Chelsea public houses on Manhattan’s west side, but tenants say that hasn’t stopped them from telling residents the buildings are coming down and they have to go.

By Joe Maniscalco

The New York City Housing Authority’s scorched earth campaign to get rid of Fulton & Elliott-Chelsea [FEC] tenants refusing to leave their homes on Manhattan’ west side entered an even uglier phase this past week, but a Civil Court Judge’s ruling on Friday is giving residents at least some hope.

Work-Bites

Editor’s Note: Striking Starbucks baristas kicking off the “Red Cup Rebellion” in Brooklyn on Nov. 13 had a lot to say about their struggle against CEO Brian Niccol. But they also had plenty to say about the struggle all workers are engaged in, too. Here’s barista Rey Saho on the subject. 

The only reason we have fair work week protections here is because fast food and retail workers in this city organized and fought for it. Throughout history the capitalist class has never given us anything.

By Joe Maniscalco

Starbucks baristas launched their “Red Cup Rebellion” this past week in more than 40 cities across the country promising to escalate the walkout until it becomes the “largest, longest strike in company history.”

By Joe Maniscalco

Outgoing FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker on Thursday downplayed the significance of increasing emergency response times across New York City saying that his department is purposely “elevating” the alarming figures.

By Joe Maniscalco

Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in on Jan. 1 2026, but New York City public housing tenants currently being forced out of their homes in Chelsea want the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist to know that he has an “urban genocide” happening on his hands right now.

By Joe Maniscalco

Just launched this fall, the State University of New York’s Reconnect program is providing residents with an opportunity to change course or add a whole new chapter to their working lives with an Associate’s Degree in more than 120 different areas of study.

And the cost? It’s free.

By Steve Wishnia

Tenants in three Chelsea public housing buildings slated to be demolished argued Nov. 5 for a court order to stop the New York City Housing Authority [NYCHA] from trying to evict them or pressuring them to sign new leases accepting relocation.

By Joe Maniscalco

Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani declared victory on Tuesday night promising working class New Yorkers a “bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt.”