de Blasio still will not raise EMT's wages despite working more in the epicenter of the pandemic

 NY Post

Mayor Bill de Blasio said now is not the time to give EMT workers a raise — just days after emergency medical calls surpassed records set on 9/11 in response to the city’s coronavirus pandemic.

“We want to take care of these workers and support them, of course have their backs, but this is a bigger issue in the labor dynamics of this city,” de Blasio said on WNYC radio Friday.

“It’s not the time to, you know, make something up on the fly in the middle of a crisis. That’s just the truth. We’ll figure this out when we get through this crisis,” de Blasio said.

The mayor made the remarks in response to a woman named Willa from Manhattan who called the radio show to ask de Blasio if he’d changed his position on not raising the pay of FDNY EMTs to match the salaries of their firefighter colleagues.

“This is what these men and women signed up for, this pandemic. And they will meet this moment,” Willa told the mayor.

“They’re risking real sickness and death in doing so but they need to know that you have their back. Do you still value the work that FDNY EMS does less than other first responders in terms of real dollars and cents?” she asked.

About 23 percent of all EMS members were out on medical leave because of the virus or other ailments as of Sunday. Last week medical calls were up to around 6,500 per day — hundreds more than the city’s busiest day of the year.

A January 2019 Post investigation found that the city’s emergency worker shortage was due in part to the pay gap among first responders. Firefighters are paid $86,000 after five years compared to $48,000 for a top EMT.

Oren Barzilay, president of the FDNY EMS, Local 2507, blasted the mayor’s stance.

“It is unfortunate that at a time when FDNY EMS employees need our mayor’s leadership and support, he chooses to stomp on them,” Barzilay said, noting that President Donald Trump recently called for incentive pay for emergency workers.

There the mayor goes again with his dithering just like when the contagion was spreading, "Now is not the time, yadda yadda yadda". But there was a lot of time to find $850,000,000 for his fucking wife's Thrive program and agency.

Swindled workers will be paid after settlement

From AM-NY:

Three Queens construction companies have pleaded guilty to withholding more than $370,000 from 150 workers, according to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The companies, Lotus-C Corporation of Jackson Heights, Johnco Contracting Inc. of Bayside, and RCM Painting Inc. of Maspeth, failed to provide workers with overtime wages between 2012 and 2017. Additionally, the employers had the workers, who were painters, sign a form stating that they were independent contractors instead of employees, the attorney general said.

The companies also underreported their staff numbers to the state, which resulted in major underpayment of unemployment contributions to the state, Schneiderman said.

As part of their plea deal the owners of the companies have dissolved their offices and are banned for five years from bidding on public works contracts in New York State. They will also pay a total of $371,447.01 for unpaid wages and $359,747.86 in unpaid unemployment contributions to the State Department of Labor, the attorney general said.

Wages not increasing enough to make NYC affordable for most

From Epoch Times:

A shortage of talent for mid-skill jobs in New York City is linked to low wages and an inadequate education system, experts say.

A mid-skill job is one that requires a high school diploma and a post-school certificate, but not necessarily a four-year degree—for example, many technology, health care, and trades jobs.

“Tech in particular, while growing, is not at levels of mid-tier cities like Seattle and Austin due to higher cost of living,” said Jessica Walker, president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, in an email. “So figuring out how people in tech, health care, and business and finance can live with families in NYC and the state is important.”

The shortage of talent prompted job search website Indeed.com to dig into its vast database for answers.

A big problem in New York City is labor market polarization, or “a hollowing out of middle wage jobs,” said Daniel Culbertson, an economist at Indeed.com.

The company separated its job database into 800 different categories, then ran the data through two filters: The first was whether a wage had kept pace with inflation, and the second was whether a wage was higher than the unadjusted median amount for that job in the year 2000.

Only 35 percent of New York City jobs made it through the filters.

The origin of talent shortage lies in the education system, said Allison Armour-Garb, senior fellow at Public Policy Institute of New York State.

In New York City, only 35 percent of high school graduates are college-ready, she said, and at least 50 percent of students have to take at least one remedial class when entering college.

The city spends more than $70 million on remediation classes at CUNY alone, Armour-Garb said. “[We’re] paying millions for material they should have already mastered in high school.”

Car wash workers ripped off

From DNA Info:

A group of car washers is accusing its Jamaica employer of paying less than the minimum wage and cheating workers out of overtime.

The workers, who filed a lawsuit against A.J.A. Car Wash at 107-05 Merrick Blvd. in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday, said they are seeking back wages which they estimate add up to $400,000.

“I generally worked six days a week for over 70 hours a week but the boss doesn’t pay us any overtime,” said Miguel Yax, 34, who has worked at A.J.A. Car Wash for more than 15 years.

According to the lawsuit, Yax, who in 2009 was making $4.75 an hour, currently gets $7 an hour.

Other workers, the lawsuit claims, are paid $6 an hour.

The lawsuit also says that the car wash sends workers home without pay on rainy days and does not divide tips equally among the employees.

Workers' wages being stolen

From the Daily News:

New York is a great city, but as Marco Lino can attest, a workers’ paradise it is not.

For four years, Lino, 53, worked 13 hours a day, six days a week stocking shelves at Rosemary’s Farm, a small grocery store in Flushing. His weekly salary was $350, that is, about $4.65 an hour. In October 2008 he was fired after protesting to his boss about his meager — and illegal — salary and filed a complaint at the Department of Labor. Six years have passed, and Lino is still waiting for justice.

“I am tired of waiting,” he said.

“(Wage theft) has become a crime wave here in New York State,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against SweatShops.

“Under Gov. Cuomo, the DOL is not enforcing labor laws. We need a DOL that does its job, not one that promotes wage-theft crimes. If the DOL will not do this, we will sue them.”

Currently, over $1 billion in wages are stolen from New York workers in low-wage industries each year.

Cheating workers is not a problem for city

From the Daily News:

Some members of the team helping Mayor de Blasio reach his dream of increasing the supply of affordable apartments in New York have a dirty little secret — an $11.8 million one.

That’s how much an elite group of 10 contractors and one developer now building affordable units across the city owed this year to workers cheated out of wages they were supposed to get, a Daily News investigation has found.

The group is building or renovating nearly 2,800 affordable apartments in 37 developments across the city, records obtained under the Freedom of Information Law show. These projects are receiving $41 million in city grants or low-interest loans plus $206 million worth of tax credits. When finished, the apartments they’re building will count toward de Blasio’s oft-stated goal of building or preserving 200,000 affordable units in 10 years — a cornerstone of his administration.

The city Housing Preservation & Development Department allows these builders to work on these projects, despite their track record, on the condition that they repay what is owed.

All 11 were placed on a special “enhanced review” list after subcontractors they brought in on earlier jobs got caught paying workers a fraction of what they were owed. The builders are responsible for making sure that doesn’t happen.

Something else to dislike about Astoria Cove

From the Daily News:

The development group seeking city approvals to build a luxury housing complex on the Astoria waterfront has come under fire because one of its principals hired a firm connected to a scandal-scarred contractor to do work on another Queens site, the Daily News has learned.

Alma Realty, the lead builder behind the Astoria Cove project, hired the company, SSC High Rise Construction, to do foundation work at another project it is developing nearby, on Vernon Blvd.

“This contractor may be working for Alma but will not be employed at the Astoria Cove site,” said a spokesman for the Astoria Cove developers. “In light of allegations that have been brought to our attention, we are asking Alma to investigate these claims further and take the appropriate action.”

SSC High Rise Construction is run in part by Michael Mahoney, according to court filings and a signed affidavit by a former employee.

Mahoney and six companies he controlled were ordered by a state Supreme Court judge to pay $1.6 million in back wages in 2011, in regards to a suit brought by then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo charged them with withholding millions of dollars in employees’ overtime and creating a racially tiered hierarchy of wages on construction sites, where white Irish employees were paid $25 an hour, black employees received $18 and Latino employees, $15.

Mahoney also pled guilty to felony tax evasion in 2011 in a suit brought by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, and was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Liu accused of making more crap up

From NY1:

City Comptroller John Liu is facing allegations he inflated salaries for security guards employed by city contractors, all for political gain.

Two private security firms are suing Liu, saying he unfairly hiked the minimum hourly rate as high as almost $19, including benefits.

That is up from a minimum rate of $11.50 in 2007.

Critics say Liu made the change to curry favor with organized labor as he prepares for a much rumored run for mayor in 2013.

A spokesman for the comptroller says his office received the complaint and will review it.

This is not the first time Liu has been accused of unfairly hiking the prevailing wage, as a similar suit was filed last year involving moving companies.

Meanwhile, the comptroller continues to be on the hot seat in regards to his fundraising, after a prominent supporter was arrested and charged with wire fraud for allegedly funneling money to the campaign using illegal straw donors.