A Legislative Session That Uplifts, Protects and Prioritizes Working New Yorkers
“There is nothing greater, more important or more powerful than the members who make up New York State’s unionized workforce. These skilled men and women have dedicated their careers, their very lives, to ensuring New York is first in class in safely built and maintained infrastructure; critical work that allows every corner of our state…
Self-Driving Trucks Are Coming and Teamsters Protest
The Teamsters have been opposed to self-driving trucks for years, even using examples of accidents among self-driving cars. The loss of jobs for the union members would be catastrophic; they number about 600,000 drivers. What the union wants is to require human drivers in the trucks to monitor the self-driving vehicles. But now, it seems,…
The Working Theater is giving a stage to the front lines of the labor movement
With Broadway ticket prices at all-time highs, the mission of the Working Theater, the labor-focused theater company and arts education program, has never been more vital. The theater company, based in Midtown, fuses community programming to uplift and inspire union members with cutting-edge productions that offer tickets at a sliding-scale of affordability. Its deep connection…
WellRithms: “Fairness and Justice in Healthcare Billing”
A patient in California recently spent two days in the hospital for a femur fracture. For the stay of two days in a standard medical-surgical bed, and the operating room used during surgery, the hospital charged $343,636. Reasonable pricing, however, including a profit for the hospitals, was only 13% of that-$43,830. Medical overbilling like this…
A Budget That Works For Working New Yorkers -Thank You Gov. Hochul
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, longtime public champion of the unionized workforce, has once again passed a pro-worker, labor-friendly budget for fiscal year 2025. By expanding labor protections within the clean energy sector, implementing a statewide Project Labor Agreement for SUNY projects, prioritizing clean water infrastructure, allocating funding for wraparound services for those seeking…
NEW enlists unions to increase opportunities to graduates at equity luncheon
Nontraditional Employment for Women’s (NEW) annual Equity Leadership Awards Luncheon on May 1 marked the beginning of a new chapter for the gender-equity based pre-apprentice program under the leadership of its new president, Leah Rambo. In February, NEW announced that Rambo would be taking the helm of the training program designed to increase the number…
A Hit and a Miss by The New York Times
An in-depth article by the New York Times this week sheds light on the seamy world of medical overbilling. The magnitude of this problem is staggering. Kudos to The Times for shining a light on it. They pointed to incentives by a bill review and repricing company that minimize payments to providers, sticking patients with…
Brendan Sexton, President, IDG/IAMAW: “Drivers Are The Best”
New York, NY — The Independent Drivers Guild/IAMAW is a driver-led and driver-powered advocacy group fighting for the rights of drivers across the country. Its primary mission is to unite drivers in the fight for the right to collectively bargain, which is the only way to stop driver exploitation by giving drivers the power to negotiate…
Robert “Bobby” Bartels, Jr., Business Manager, Steamfitters Local 638 UA: 4 Generations of Steamfitters
New York, NY — Robert “Bobby” Bartels, Jr., is the Business Manager of Steamfitters Local 638 UA, a union whose origins go back almost 150 years. Enterprise Association of Steamfitters Local 638 of the United Association was chartered in 1884 under the Knights of Labor as Enterprise Assembly #3189. In 1914 the Enterprise Assembly affiliated…
TWU Local 100 President Richard Davis: Determination and Knowledge Equals Power
Local 100 is a local (or chapter) of the Transport Workers Union of America, a union that represents transportation workers in bus and subway lines, and several airlines nationwide. The Local primarily represents 41,000 workers and 26,000 retirees in the New York City public transportation system and at some private bus lines serving the New…