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New York City (NYC)

Barnes & Noble Workers Rally; Joined By Other Bookstore Workers

New York, NY – Workers at Barnes & Noble unionized stores in New York City organized with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), rallied with fellow New York City unionized bookstore workers including workers from McNally Jackson represented by RWDSU Local 1102, the Strand in Union Square who are members of UAW 2179, and Barnes & Noble workers from Hadley, Massachusetts, who are members of UFCW 1459, to demand the company reach a contract by the end of 2024. As the holiday shopping season gets underway, workers were joined by unionized bookstore workers to raise industry standards for all.

Union-Busting New York City Restaurant Faces Day In Court

Workers at Lodi, the pricey Italian restaurant in Rockefeller Plaza, are continuing their struggle to gain recognition as part of the Restaurant Workers Union. In fall 2022, workers began organizing, leading to an overwhelming 75 percent of the workers signing union cards. In January 2023, organizers went public with a letter to management stating their demands. Their demands look to improve conditions for all workers at Lodi and safeguard their livelihoods. Workers are demanding wage increases to account for past inflation and cost-of-living-adjustments to protect them in the future.

Former Rikers Detainees Urge NYC Officials To Address Sexual Abuse

Women who say they were sexually abused by staff at the Rikers Island jail complex urged officials to take their allegations seriously at a City Council oversight hearing on Thursday. “You hear our stories, you hear our pain, you hear our trauma. We tell it over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again,” said Donna Hylton, who alleges a female captain raped her when she was a teenager at Rikers in the 1980s. “When will we be heard? When will we be believed?” Hylton is one of more than 700 women who have sued New York City, alleging they were fondled, raped or otherwise sexually abused while in custody over the last 50 years.

Why My Coworkers And I Unionized Our Architecture Firm

The first attempt to unionize a privately owned architecture firm since the 1970s started at SHoP Architects in New York City, where I was working at the time. This was part of a wave of nontraditional organizing efforts taking place around 2020 that included tech workers at Kickstarter and Google, baristas at various Starbucks locations, writers at Vice, and partners at Apple stores, just to name a few. During the summer of that same year, while most “nonessential workers” were working remotely under stay-at-home orders, some of us hit the streets of cities all over the country to protest police brutality and the assassinations of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

West Harlem Pushes Back Against Columbia’s Latest Campus Expansion

Columbia University, New York City’s largest landlord, is facing increased community resistance to its ongoing Manhattanville campus expansion, located between W. 125th and 134th Streets. Since Columbia won a lengthy legal battle in 2010, the campus has grown to include residential, artistic, science, business and gathering spaces. While most of the Manhattanville campus has already been constructed, Columbia plans to further develop over the next two decades. One of the university’s most recent acquisitions, 2.5 acres of land along the Hudson River, is yet to be redeveloped, and community members want to see it serve them.

From Despair To Revolution: The Bronx’s Path To Defeating Addiction

The Bronx Anti-War Coalition hosted a film screening on Oct. 11 of the documentary “Dope is Death” as part of our guerrilla cinema series. The widely attended event featured a Q&A session with former Young Lord and acupuncturist Walter Bosque, where community members engaged in a lively discussion about continuing and expanding the revolutionary movement of healing. In recent years, the Bronx, a predominantly Black, Brown and working-class borough in one of the most densely populated areas of Turtle Island, has experienced a sharp rise in opioid use, including oxycodone, street fentanyl and heroin. We recognize that drug use, particularly opioids, is not merely a personal struggle but a symptom of systemic issues rooted in capitalism and government neglect.

200+ Jewish-Led Protesters Arrested At New York Stock Exchange

As the Israeli assault of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon continued on Monday, over 200 Jewish-led protesters, including descendants of Holocaust survivors, were arrested at the New York Stock Exchange while demanding that the United States “stop arming Israel and profiting from genocide.” Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)—which has led several anti-genocide protests across the country over the past year of war—said that hundreds of people joined the action in New York City. The advocacy group shared photos and videos on social media of participants in red T-shirts with messages including “Not in Our Name” and “Stop Arming Israel.”

New York’s Report On Antisemitism Is An Attack On The Palestine Movement

The Fall 2024 semester has been marked by an onslaught of repressive measures against the Palestine movement and free speech on campuses. Professors have been fired, students have been suspended, and universities have banned pro-Palestinian groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP). At the City University of New York (CUNY), some community members are still facing felony charges after 28 people were initially charged with felonies for their participation in the City College encampment for Palestine last semester. Nearly 11 months ago, in the wake of October 7, and in the middle of a national attempt to equate the movement for Palestine with antisemitism, New York governor Kathy Hochul commissioned an investigation on antisemitism at CUNY.

Eric Adams And The Death Of Black Politics

We at Black Agenda Report were always skeptical that Black people would make any progress under the administration of New York City mayor Eric Adams. In our 2021 article, Elections and the Illusion of Black Political Power, this columnist wrote, “Adams speaks favorably of the business community, hence the campaign haul, and real estate developers and other wealthy New Yorkers made clear he was their choice. Fundraising prowess is always an indication that the people’s needs will not be met.” Two and one half years later, Adams not only proved BAR’s analysis of his politics to be correct, but his administration is dangling by a thread.

End The Siege On New York City

On May 1, 2023, Jordan Neely walked onto the F train at the Second Avenue subway stop in Manhattan and never walked out. Daniel Penny, a former Marine from West Islip in suburban Suffolk County, executed Jordan Neely in a full subway car while passengers watched. They were forced to witness Penny keep Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes — even after he had gone completely motionless. Neely, a known subway performer and Michael Jackson impersonator, was homeless and battled a number of mental health conditions. That day on the train, he began to cry out in anger and anguish and instead of receiving help or services, he was murdered.

New Yorkers Protest NYPD Shooting Three On Subway

Brooklyn, NY – On September 18, close to a hundred people came out to protest the NYPD shooting 3 civilians on the subway. The protest was organized by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR). On Sunday, September 15, two NYPD officers followed a 49-year-old man, Derell Mickles, up several flights of stairs at the Sutter Avenue L train station in Brownsville. They suspected that Mickles skipped the $2.90 fare and proceeded to follow him closely. A confrontation ensued and an officer drew their gun after Mickles allegedly pulled a knife—which NYPD has said they have lost. An officer responded by shooting, hitting Mickles, two bystanders and his fellow officer.

Statement On NYPD Mass Subway Shooting Over $2.90

Yesterday, the NYPD shot Derell Mickles, a Black man in Brooklyn for the alleged "crime" of jumping a turnstile. This marks the second NYPD shooting in just 48 hours. Amidst a landscape where Democrat political figures swiftly condemned recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump, proclaiming that "violence has no place in America," we ask: where is this sentiment when it comes to the NYPD shooting Black men? Once again, the state used the hollow excuse of "fare evasion" to justify an assassination attempt on a Brooklyn man. This is not an isolated incident but a pattern of state violence targeting the working class in general and Black people in particular.

Thousands Flood New York City Streets For Palestine

New York City - On Labor Day, Sept. 2, day 331 of Israel’s genocide, thousands of people gathered at Union Square in New York City in an outpouring of rage against the U.S.-backed massacres of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Chanting: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied”, “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine is almost Free,” they expressed support for the Palestinian people as the U.S. government, police, social media sites and university administrations are taking actions to suppress protests against the genocide. Neerden Kiswani, a Palestinian activist and founder of Within Our Lifetime (WOL), one of the main organizers of the event, described Israel’s horrific brutality.

CUNY Workers And Students Will Write A New Chapter Of Class Struggle

Another school year is starting at the City University of New York (CUNY). We’ll arrive on campuses that are dilapidated and falling apart. Broken elevators and escalators plague campuses across the city. Some departments are in a last-minute scramble to hire adjuncts for classes. It’s an affront to us as workers and to our students who deserve a quality education. Even though I’ve spent all week preparing for the semester, adjuncts and many others don’t get paid until two weeks into the semester. I have $30 in my bank account and I have to borrow money from friends again. Some adjuncts are on food stamps.

Worker Coops Bring Undocumented Workers Into The Labor Movement

How can immigrants without work authorization avoid being hyper-exploited, and instead find work where they have some autonomy and collective power to raise standards? A movement that has been incubating in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, might offer some answers. Sunset Park boasts one of the highest concentrations of worker cooperatives in the United States. This business model, brought to the neighborhood by the Center for Family Life, guarantees all members standard and legal wages, a voice in their company’s governance, and control over their schedules. Since members are business owners, not employees, they also do not need work authorization.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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