News stories tagged with "labor"

(05/16/12) Democrats in the State Assembly approved a bill Tuesday to increase the state's minimum wage. The Republican leader of the State Senate offered a spirited defense of his position opposing the measure, but did not rule the issue out altogether. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the story. more

(05/15/12) A months-old proposal to raise the minimum wage for millions of New Yorkers may be dead. Assembly Democrats say they have the votes to approve an increase today. But Senate Republicans say they won't take the measure up, and it's not on Gov. Cuomo's list for action by the end of this term, June 21. Martha Foley has more. more

(05/15/12) New York's senators are looking to reduce unemployment among recently retired veterans. They unveiled three new bills at a joint press conference Monday. The Innovation Trail's Ryan Delaney reports. more

(04/27/12) The US Labor Department has scrapped safety regulations designed to protect teenagers working on farms.

North Country Congressman Bill Owens worked hard to pressure the Obama administration to withdraw the rules. more

(04/19/12) Democrats in the State Senate held a forum promoting a hike in the state's minimum wage, while a conservative group says there's already a government program in place that boosts the earnings of low wage workers well above the current minimum standard. In Albany, Karen DeWitt reports. more

(03/16/12) The overnight session of the state legislature this week, where pension reform and other items were passed after weeks of contention, has left public worker unions, and even some lawmakers, fuming. Meanwhile Governor Cuomo says it had be done that way. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has more: more

(03/14/12) Public worker unions have gone on the offensive against Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed new pension tier, invoking class warfare. Meanwhile the governor is warning that if there's no resolution, thousands of local government employees will be laid off.

(03/07/12) Legislative leaders spoke to a large gathering of AFSCME public union members at the Capitol Tuesday.

The union is strongly opposed to Governor Cuomo's pension reform plans--during the demonstration, it ran a radio ad that said politicians are trying to "stick it" to working people instead of making Wall Street and big corporations pay their fair share.

The legislators offered support to the workers--but remained neutral on the pension plan issue. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the details. more

(02/28/12) Governor Andrew Cuomo took a step back Monday from his proposal to give new state workers the option of defined contribution 401k-style retirement plan. But the governor says without pension reform, local governments in New York could end up "bankrupt." Karen DeWitt has more. more

(02/15/12) Ask just about any politician these days, and he'll likely tell you that a big part of his job is to create jobs. So how does the government do that? Here in New York, Industrial Development Agencies are one of main job creation mechanisms for local communities.

The Innovation Trail's Marie Cusick explains how these obscure economic development tools work, and just how much it can cost taxpayers when they don't work. more