NYC Labor Day: Workers Level Strike Threats, Fight Wage Theft

NEW YORK CITY — Workers in New York City kept Labor Day's fighting spirit alive as the holiday approached this year.

Beyond an ever-growing number of union drives at Starbucks, bookstores and an Amazon warehouse in the city, workers in recent weeks alone leveled strike threats and fought against wage theft.

Patch has toiled to put together a roundup of significant workaday news for Labor Day in New York City.

A school bus driver strike could create a massive detour for thousands of students and families for New York City public schools' first day, Sept. 7.

Talks between the Amalgamated Transit Union and bus companies continued in the days before school began.

School officials took the potential strike threat serious enough to craft contingency plans, including free MetroCards and Uber rides, to help students get to class.

"It is going to be a challenge," said Chancellor David Banks. "It will be a major, major inconvenience for all of our families."

The bus driver strike, if it happens, won't be the only significant strike in New York City.

The ongoing actors and writers strike has seen Hollywood stars picket in Times Square and Fran Drescher bring her signature laugh to the City Council's chambers.

While the strike shut down film and television production, it hasn't been without pain for workers in the union that represents most Hollywood crew members — the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. They've started to lean on nonprofit funds to pay for rent, housing and more as the strike stretches on.

Flight attendants have also agitated over stalled contract talks.

Dozens of workers affiliated with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA showed up at LaGuardia and Newark airports to picket ahead of the Labor Day weekend.

• NYC School Bus Driver Strike Could Affect 150K Kids, Chancellor Warns
• NYC's School Bus Driver Strike Plans: Free MetroCards, Uber Rides
• NY Working Class Turns To Nonprofit Funds As Strike Stretches On
• Flight Attendants Picket At Newark Airport Ahead Of Holiday Weekend

Strikes and strike threats weren't the only recent labor fights.

Workers and prosecutors alike fought against wage theft in the past week.

Seven constructions workers got repaid $50,000 in stiffed wages from an electrical company contracted for a job on billionaire Richard Branson's posh Virgin Hotel. The repayment was the first from a fund set up by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

And new interactive map from Documented showed where an estimated $203 million was stolen from New York workers between 2017 and 2021.

Dozens of Bed-Stuy businesses, for instance, were found to have denied workers their owed wages, with some withholding over $200,000, the map shows.

Home health aides also sued the state's labor department over a dropped wage theft investigation.

Other workers raised alarm bells about conditions at their jobs.

Critical and intensive care nurses at NYU Langone–Brooklyn claim they’re treating as many as four patients at a time.

That number is twice the number allowed under a new state regulation.

Anne Goldman, an ICU nurse and union leader, said in an interview that Langone–Brooklyn is "playing Russian Roulette with who we see and how we respond."

And municipal retired crashed a planned press conference by Mayor Eric Adams to protest his administration’s continued push for a privatized health care plan for retirees known as Medicare Advantage.

• Midtown Hotel Construction Workers Get $50K Of Stiffed Wages: DA
• Dozens Of Bed-Stuy Businesses Stole Wages From Workers: Data
• Home Health Aides Sue State Labor Department Over Dropped Wage Theft Investigation
• NYU Langone–Brooklyn Nurses Say Staffing Levels Have Reached State Of Emergency
• Retirees Crash Adams Event To Blast Medicare Advantage Plan