May 17, 2013 — ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) State labor officials say New York's unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in April, the lowest since the end of the Great Recession in 2009.

They say preliminary U.S. Department of Labor statistics show the rate fell from 8.2 percent in March and 8.6 percent a year earlier.  Go to full article

May 09, 2013 — North Country Community College has reached a new, five-year deal with the union that represents its faculty.

NCCC President Steve Tyrell presented on the new contract at Monday's Essex County Board of Supervisors meeting. Afterward, county lawmakers approved the deal unanimously.  Go to full article

May 07, 2013 — There's been a steady flow of jobs away from America's city downtowns for the first decade of this century. Some of upstate New York's cities are bucking the trend, but not all.  Go to full article

May 01, 2013 — ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says state overtime pay rose nearly 11 percent last year to $529 million, continuing a costly trend since workforce cuts beginning in 2009.  Go to full article

Apr 24, 2013 — Human trafficking is a growing problem across the country...including here in the North Country. Undocumented farmworkers can be threatened with deportation. Sex workers or foreign brides can be held against their will. Foreign students with visas to work at Adirondack tourism destinations are vulnerable.

Law enforcement and area not-for-profits are joining forces to stop human trafficking in the North Country. Representatives from Homeland Security, the state attorney general's office and labor department, and social service agencies from St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and Franklin counties met earlier this month at SUNY Potsdam. They were joined by not-for-profits that help immigrants, domestic violence victims, and other vulnerable people.

Renan Salgado is a human trafficking specialist with the Worker Justice Center of New York. He's organizing the North Country human trafficking task force. He spoke with David Sommerstein.  Go to full article

Apr 18, 2013 — U.S. Senator Charles Schumer says a new bipartisan immigration deal will provide an economic boost to New York farms and the agriculture industry.

In a press release, Schumer says the bill will be especially helpful to dairy farms and fruit growers.  Go to full article

Apr 09, 2013 — High-paying jobs will remain elusive for the class of 2013 as a slow economic recovery drags on, according to numbers tallied by an economic policy center.

The Economic Policy Institute crunched some data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found starting salaries for 21-24-year old demographic entering the labor force continue to be lower than they were a decade ago.  Go to full article

Apr 03, 2013 — According to a study by Hofstra University, more than 11,000 people in New York State have been victims of human trafficking since 2000. They may have been sex workers, or forcibly employed at restaurants or factories or on farms.

They're among the estimated 27 million people who are victims of human trafficking worldwide.

Several organizations this week are drawing attention to what's often called modern-day slavery. The state Department of Labor has announced a new partnership with businesses to expose illegal labor trafficking.

A handful of students from SUNY Canton held a march yesterday to raise awareness of the issue.  Go to full article

Feb 21, 2013 — A 30-year state Department of Transportation employee said he was forced to retire for speaking to a newspaper reporter without approval from his agency's communications office.

Mike Fayette, DOT's top official in Essex County, said he was threatened with termination for talking to The Adirondack Daily Enterprise for a story in which he praised the DOT's response to Tropical Storm Irene. A version of the same story, also from reporter Chris Knight, ran on NCPR.

DOT officials are refusing to comment on Fayette's case. Some observers say it's just another sign of how Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has worked to limit and control public information. Chris Knight is still following the story.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Feb 21, 2013 — The state's largest teachers union has filed a lawsuit against the state's property tax cap, arguing it's unconstitutional.

New York State United Teachers President Dick Iannuzzi says the cap, passed by Cuomo and the legislature in 2011, arbitrarily limits property tax increase to two percent, regardless of whether a school district is rich or poor. The lawsuit also charges that the tax cap violates the principle of one person one vote, because a supermajority of 60 percent of voters is required to override the cap.  Go to full article