Duncan Freeman

New York

Staff Reporter at The Chief Leader

I cover workers, the FDNY, and organized labor in NYC for @TheChiefLeader.

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Articles

Workers save 70 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema jobs with 58-day strike

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/18/25 After nearly two months on strike, workers at two Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations have reached an agreement with management that cancels the layoffs of 70 employees and allows striking workers to return to work. The settlement between members of United Auto Workers Local 2179 and theater management, reached Friday, permits all 70 of the workers who were laid off to return to payrolls by May 1 and reinstates workers’ sick time, paid time off and seniority, the union said.
EMS unions ditch Adams, endorse Cuomo for mayor

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

EMS unions ditch Adams, endorse Cuomo for mayorBY DUNCAN FREEMANPosted 4/18/25 Two unions representing more than 4,700 FDNY EMTs, paramedics, EMS officers and fire protection inspectors endorsed former Governor Andew Cuomo for mayor of New York City last week. The District Council 37 locals’ endorsement represented something of a rebuke of Mayor Eric Adams, with the incumbent failing to live up to his promise of granting EMS workers' pay parity with other first responders.
Ramos pledges job guarantee program if elected mayor

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/18/25 "By 2030, we will guarantee that every New Yorker ages 18 to 26 is either employed or enrolled in school, because no young person in New York City should be left out." That was the promise State Senator Jessica Ramos made Wednesday when announcing her “One Good Job” platform, an employment guarantee she pledged to implement if elected mayor this year.
$4 million in wages unclaimed by nearly 1,600 workers

2 weeks ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/18/25 Nearly 1,600 workers who labored on city-funded projects have yet to claim funds owed to them from prevailing wage settlements with private companies secured by the New York City comptroller. The uncollected funds total $4.27 million and Comptroller Brad Lander is urging the workers owed money to come forward and collect.
FDNY would get $1B for capital improvements, according to Council proposal

2 weeks ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

FDNY would get $1B for capital improvements, according to Council proposalBY DUNCAN FREEMANPosted 4/11/25 The FDNY would get $1 billion for “critical infrastructure and equipment needs” next fiscal year, according to a proposal released by the City Council last week.
LGBTQ Center workers unionize, get voluntary recognition

2 weeks ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/11/25 Leadership at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Lower Manhattan recognized the union formed by around 60 employees last week, averting the need for a formal union election. A nonprofit that has supported LGBTQ New Yorkers since 1983, The Center, as it’s commonly called, provides queer and transgender people health care, educational services, economic advancement programs, counseling, aid with substance abuse and more.
Columbia unions unite against Trump, university management

3 weeks ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/4/25 Unions representing more than 5,000 workers at Columbia are demanding the university stand up to the Trump administration’s attempts to control it. In a letter sent last week to the university's president and co-chair of the board of trustees that listed 10 demands, three United Auto Workers locals implored Columbia's leadership to protect students and reinstate workers that have been expelled and terminated.
300 union transit jobs created in MTA's capital plan

3 weeks ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

The MTA will hire 300 additional unionized employees to renovate, upgrade and repair stations in the aging subway system, leadership of the MTA and the Transport Workers Union announced last week. The proposed increase in staff would be tasked with carrying out the state-of-good-repair jobs laid out in the MTA’s $68-billion capital plan for 2025-2029.
After securing $4-million settlement, FDNY inspectors union seeks follow-up suit

1 month ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 3/28/25 Months after securing a $4.3-million settlement with the city for hundreds of FDNY fire protection inspectors who claimed they weren’t paid properly for overtime, the workers’ union is seeking a second bite of the apple. Leadership of Local 2507, representing the FDNY’s EMTs, paramedics and fire protection inspectors, posted a bulletin this month saying that the union’s attorneys are investigating claims for another overtime pay lawsuit.
Postal service unions stage nationwide protests against DOGE, privatization

1 month ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 3/28/25 Unions representing some 640,000 employees that buoy the United States Postal Service held rallies across the country last week amid what union leaders say is an unprecedented assault on the 250-year-old service by the Trump administration. Workers have long seen the privatization of USPS as an existential threat to their livelihoods, and with the rise of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, employees are standing up and speaking out.