New York, NY

PBA: Even Cop Critics Believe Pay's Too Low; Counters Testimony By Mayor, Using Adams, Bratton By REUVEN BLAU       With the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association arbitration hearings halfway over, the union has sought the help of unlikely allies to highlight that even the department's detractors believe that Police Officers deserve to be paid more than any other uniformed force in the city. More ... Cheap Labor Caved UFT's Housing Plan; Pressured by Carpenters By MEREDITH KOLODNER       Last week's controversy that led the United Federation of Teachers to back away from financially supporting an affordable-hosing project after the Carpenters' union objected put into high relief an issue lurking behind the façade of every new building: the growing demand for such housing even as m... More ... OTB Broke Due to State Fix; 1,500 Jobs on Line: City By REUVEN BLAU       Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff Dec. 4 said that the State Legislature must fundamentally change the city's Off-Track Betting Corporation revenue-sharing formula and switch to a profit-based system in order to save the 1,500 city employees at risk. More ... Mayor Balks At State Plan For Job-Site Safety; Questions Regulations To Curb Violence As Costly, Broad By REUVEN BLAU       The Bloomberg administration is threatening to block the state Labor Department's proposed regulations that would redefine workplace safety rules by requiring all public-employee managers to evaluate work-site risks and develop appropriate safety plans to address any potential hazards. More ... 2 Years Later, Little Gained; Transit Workers Still Aggrieved By ARI PAUL       Nearly two years after a transit strike that was as much a rebellion against what they considered an oppressive management as it was a battle to preserve and improve wages and fringe benefits, more than a few members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 say little has changed for the better. More ... 9/11 Bill Wants Medical Examiner to Specify Cause of Death By ARI PAUL       State Senator Eric Adams announced Dec. 2 that he will propose legislation that would require the Chief Medical Examiner to clearly specify the cause on death certificates for any 9/11 first-responders who die of Ground Zero-related ailments. More ... Track Safety Unit Urges Inspections; Reaffirms Rules By ARI PAUL       The New York City Transit and Transport Workers Union Local 100 joint track safety task force Dec. 4 released its final report making 63 recommendations to improve safety for Maintenance of Way workers and Train Operators. More ... Toussaint Puts Coal In Foes' Stockings; Removed for Late Dues By ARI PAUL       He's making a list. He's checking it twice. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint is deciding which union officers have been naughty or nice, as he recently told New York City Transit management that three dissident union officials should no longer be considered worker repres... More ... CORRECTION       The lead exam story in last week's issue incorrectly stated the test dates for the upcoming exams for Correction Officer and Police Officer jobs. The Police Officer test is set for Feb. 23 and the Correction Officer exam is scheduled for May 10. More ... Barred Candidate's Appeal Due at '372'; Members to Vote By MEREDITH KOLODNER       The fate of an opposition candidate removed from a District Council 37 Local 372 ballot will be decided by a vote at a Dec. 12 membership meeting. Tony Ferina was disqualified from running for the executive board after the union ruled that the person who had nominated him was not a member in good... More ... Fight for Troubled Day-Care Center; Seek Continuity for Kids By MEREDITH KOLODNER       A Bronx city-funded day-care center scheduled for closure next month has a long history of financial improprieties, but staff and parents rallied last week asking the city not to punish the children for the sins of the center's board. More ... Wasteland Lives At Bronx CC; Rats, Sinkhole on Campus By MEREDITH KOLODNER       Faculty and staff at Bronx Community College are hoping the administration will respond to their request for a health and safety committee to deal with the lack of heat in the library, rats running through the building and a sinkhole large enough to host a history seminar class. More ... Mayor: Better Pay Needed for Judges; Seeks More Applicants By REUVEN BLAU       With the State Legislature contemplating returning to Albany for a special session later this month, Mayor Bloomberg last week urged the lawmakers to enact long-overdue judicial pay raises to help the city attract more-qualified jurists. More ... Want 'Green-Collar' Jobs With Good Pay; Groups Seek Pledge By MEREDITH KOLODNER       Labor and environmental advocates want to make sure the 5,000 jobs that will be created by Mayor Bloomberg's plan to make the city's buildings more energy-efficient adhere to high labor standards. They released a report Dec. More ... '420' Challenger Says VP Made Battle Physical By MEREDITH KOLODNER       District Council 37 Local 420 member Stanley Morgan, who is challenging President Carmen Charles in next month's election, has accused Second Vice President Togba Port of pushing and shoving him after a confrontation at Jacoby Hospital. More ... SWEARING IN NEW STRONGEST:       Mayor Bloomberg and Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty appointed a new four-star chief and three-star chief and administered the oaths of office to 250 new Sanitation Workers. More ... Bratton: Cops Merit Best Pay; Says Other Jobs Don't Compare By REUVEN BLAU       William J. Bratton, former NYPD Commissioner and current Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, stepped out in favor of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association in its ongoing contract dispute with the Bloomberg administration, slamming New York City's reliance on pattern bargaining. More ... Paradise Tossed Over Scam On Workers' Wages By MEREDITH KOLODNER       A construction company that won a $1.3-million contract from the city to renovate two parks pleaded guilty last week to cheating its workers out of $236,544 in wages. More ... FOR THE RECORD       The Daily News reported last week that former neighbors of Judi Nathan reported seeing police bodyguards waiting at her beckon call outside her East Side apartment nearly a year before it became publicly known in the spring of 2000 that she was dating then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. More ... Please click here for our Copyright Notice.