Stuart Appelbaum
Quinn shows her math on an economy-sensitive 'paid sick' compromise
In announcing her support for a modified version of the original "paid sick time" bill, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for the first time described the economic indicators that will be used by city officials to determine whether the new requirement is fully implemented after its April 2014 start date. More
(1)'She's not Bloomberg:' a union unhappy with the mayor endorses his ally Quinn
The Retail Wholesale Department Store Workers Union and its president, Stuart Appelbaum, are endorsing City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for mayor, calling her the progressive Democrat with the strongest chances of winning the general election in November. More
After years of wiretaps, but no charges, a labor leader defends John Liu
"It's 18 months and John Liu still has not been charged and it just shows how intense the desire was to find something, anything, to pin on him," said Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
"I think ti's time for people to say whether or not they have anything to charge the comptroller with and if not, this should end they should let him get back to focusing on the people's business."
Toys 'R' Us, Con Ed make a labor group's list of New York's 'worst low-wage employers'
The list is part of a report from United NY entitled "The Economic Low Road: Low-wage workers and the one-percenters." More
Scott Walker campaigned like Michael Bloomberg, a labor leader says
"You have to look at the amount that was spent on each side and compare it to the number of votes received," said Applebaum. "Even though we may have lost the governor's race in Wisconsin, it was the result of extraordinary, Bloomberg-like expenditures and that is not something that is going to be able to be replicated throughout the country."
Appelbaum, an outspoken advocate of labor and progressive caucus, said, "I'd much prefer to have an energized public than i would to have to count on 30:1 expenditures."
I asked if Walker's election suggested that progressives needed to focus more on raising money to close the financial gap against their opponents.
"Nah, I don't see it that way," he said. "For me, what's it about is members of the progressive community need to start activating people the way that it happened in Wisconsin." He called what happened in Wisconsin "really a model of how to get people involved. we need to start doing that now."
"Obama is not going to be outspent 25:1, or 30:1," said Appelbaum. More
What will it take for Andrew Cuomo to support a legislator pay hike?
Will state legislators get a pay raise for the first time since 1999? Possibly. How will they get it? Depends who you ask. More
(1)Cuomo doesn't line up with city Democrats, or labor, on Walmart
Many New York elected officials have been opposed to Walmart opening a store in New York City long before Sunday's news that the company covered up a massive bribery scandal in Mexico.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been considerably less shy about bucking some unions than most Democrats (and, in fact, Republicans) in New York, and who benefits from the support of a lobbying group that exists to act as a counterweight to organized labor, isn't one of them. More
Explaining a break with Christine Quinn on living wage, Wylde says the speaker gave in to pressure from 'advocates'
The Partnership for New York City, the city’s main business lobby, withdrew its support for a "living wage" bill brokered by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn because it didn't give City Hall the right to exempt projects on a case-by-case basis. More
Christine Quinn announces a deal on living wage agreement, with details to come
In a press release sent out at 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday, City Council speaker Christine Quinn announced a deal on a controversial "living wage" bill. More
(1)The retail workers union doesn't like Carrion's description of retail workers
President Barack Obama's former director of urban affairs, Adolfo Carrion, angered a local union by saying this week that retail jobs "are not really career positions" that can all be suited to heads of households. More
(1)Brooklyn Brewery president says paid sick leave 'would be very difficult for a lot of very small companies'
Brooklyn Brewery president Steve Hindy, who publicly pushed for “living wage,” does not plan to speak out in favor of paid sick leave, which has replaced living wage as the union-backed issue of the day, since a compromise on living wage was reached last week. More
(1)Quinn unveils a pared-down living wage bill, pleasing Wylde and Appelbaum at the same time
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has for months publicly dithered on the living wage bill, announced a pared-down version of the legislation on Friday afternoon at City Hall. The compromise offers labor interests an actual wage-hike mandate, and offers the business lobby the exceptions to the mandate that it was looking for. More
Pictures from a Julie Menin fund-raiser: A financier, a labor leader and that chandelier
Here are a few more photos from the fund-raiser that Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal attended for Julie Menin, the Community Board 1 chairperson looking to run for Manhattan borough president.
Photographer Colin Kelly graciously shared these and other photos with me.
Perched between her patrons and her members, Quinn edits the 'living wage' bill in public
It doesn’t look like Christine Quinn is going to allow the City Council to vote on the "living wage" bill as it’s currently drafted, if yesterday’s four-hour-long hearing on the topic is any indication.
The proposal would require recipients of development subsidies from the city to pay a wage of $10 per hour with health benefits (or $11.50 without) to require their tenants do the same. Pushed heavily by organized labor, it has broad support among the Council's majority Democrats. More
Organized labor on 'the beauty of the Occupy movement,' without Fox 5
New York Communities for Change, the Acorn-successor organization aimed at mobilizing low-income and minority communities for progressive causes, held a fund-raiser at the 1199 SEIU headquarters in Manhattan last night.
Attendees included Representative Charlie Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, assembly members Brian Kavanagh and Linda Rosenthal, and city council members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jumaane Williams, Ydanis Rodriguez and, briefly, Dan Garodnick. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was honored by the group, but she was in D.C. and didn't attend. City Comptroller John Liu publicized the event on his schedule but ended up arriving after it was finished, around 8:30 p.m.
Recurring themes of the night were labor's victory in Ohio and the vigor of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators down at Zuccotti Park, which labor leaders continue to seize on as affirmation of their own aims, declaring repeatedly that organized labor and progressive activists are in sync. More
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