Listen: Trump Feeds Fat Cats While Working Class Gets hosed
By Bob Hennelly
Across the country and here in our region local and state governments are scrambling to assess the damage from the passage of President Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful" bill. The new budget bill strips 17 million Americans of their healthcare and shrinks the vital food stamp program—all to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations while exponentially increasing spending to execute Trump's mass deportation program by making Immigration and Customs Enforcement the nation's largest law enforcement agency.
Listen: Frontline Voices Takes a Closer Look at Budget ‘Horror’ at Home, War & Barbarism Abroad
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of WBAI’s Front Line Voices, host Rebecca Myles explores the impact Trump's so-called “Big Beautiful” tax bill will have on working families with Sarah Anderson from the Institute for Policies Studies. India Walton also discusses her unsuccessful run for Mayor of Buffalo as a democratic socialist and what it may portend for Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s run for New York City mayor.
Listen: NYC’s EMS Crisis Deepens; Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Death Bill’
By Bob Hennelly
On the latest episode of "What’s Going On?” Vinnie Variale, president of DC 37 Local 3621—the FDNY EMS officers union—talks about Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of NYC’s deepening EMS crisis where response times have risen in excess of ten minutes for the most serious life threatening situations as calls volumes continue to surge.
Listen: Retirees Win in NYC; Brennan and Bhalla Win in NJ; and Zohran Strikes a Chord with the Rank & File
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of “What’s Going On?’ we talk more about the big victory New York City municipal retirees have won in the fight against Medicare Advantage with New York City Organization of Public Services Retirees Marianne Pizzitola.
Listen: 1K Health Care Workers on the Chopping Block; Vinny Alvarez Leaves NYCLC Presidency
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of “What’s Going On?” we talk with New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez to discuss his retirement and the status of the American labor movement as he turns the page. Alvarez helped to restore the image of the CLC after it was rocked by a massive corruption scandal before he was elected its first full-time president in 2011.
Listen: Jersey Confronts GOP Cuts/Nation Editor Makes the Case for Mamdani in NYC Mayor’s Race
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of “What’s Going On?” We speak with Maura Collinsgru, policy director with Citizen Action, Carol Tanzi, chief shop steward of USW Steelworkers Nurses Local 4-200, and Larry Hamm, founder of the People’s Organization for Progress.
Listen: L.A. ICE Bust Sends SEIU USWW Pres. Huerta to the Hospital/Plus More
By Bob Hennelly
The Trump administration sparked community protests in Los Angeles over the weekend after sending squads of military gear-equipped ICE agents on high-profile raids throughout the city including a local Home Depot where many day laborers typically gather for work.
Listen: Healthcare Workers on Strike/Garment Workers in Crisis
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of WBAI’s “What’s Going On?” we get a regional update from Shameka Burnette-Mathews from 1199SEIU about the union's strike at five for-profit nursing homes in western New York. We also speak to Debbie White, president of NJ's HPAE, which represents 14,000 nurses and healthcare workers, about the strike vote taken by her members at Southern Ocean Medical Center, which is part of the massive Hackensack Meridian Health hospital chain.
Listen: Inside the Trillion-Dollar Military Budget; Sweeney Vies to Be Next Jersey Governor
By Bob Hennelly
On this special Memorial Day edition of “We Decide: America at the Crossroads” we’re talking about how the Trump/Musk junta is trying to cut 80,000 civil servants from the Veterans Administration which provides life saving healthcare to millions of our veterans.
Listen: The VA Fights Back/Remembering Mary Pinkett
By Bob Hennelly
This week the Republican controlled House passed by just one vote what President Trump calls his "one big beautiful bill" that provides obscene tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest individuals and corporations while cutting hundreds of billions from safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
Listen: BLET Talks NJ Transit Deal/Civil Service Solidarity/And More!
By Bob Hennelly
The Teamsters Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) have won their strike and reached a tentative agreement with NJ Transit that reflects a better deal than the one that management walked away from Thursday night.
Listen: Rep. McIver Dismisses DOJ Assault Charges As ‘Purely Political’
By Bob Hennelly
On the latest episode of WBAI’s “What’s Going On?” Issac Ferguson reports on acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with allegedly assaulting DHS/ICE officers as they were taking Newark Mayor Ras Baraka into custody on May 9.
Listen: Will NJ Transit Strike? More on Baraka Arrest
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of "What’s Going On?” we hear from Tom Haas, chairman of the Teamsters Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen who represents 450 NJ Transit engineers. Haas says NJ Transit needs to raise wages to hold on to engineers going to Amtrak, PATH, LIRR and MetroNorth. The union could strike as early as Friday.
Listen: Alarm Over WTC Health Cuts/Baraka for Jersey Gov?
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, retired FDNY EMT Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, joins attorney Micheal Barasch and FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Brosi, president of the FDNY UFOA to discuss the impact of major cuts to the 9/11 WTC Health Program.
Listen: Sara Nelson Calls Out Air Traffic Chaos; Says There Needs to Be a General Strike
By Bob Hennelly
On this week’s edition of Pacifica Radio’s We Decide: America at the Crossroads with Jenna Flanagan we’re talking about how the Trump/Musk junta is doubling down on dismantling democracy, unions and due process.
Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA argues workers should up the ante with a general strike. Indeed, the regime’s full-court press to eliminate collective bargaining for federal workers bodes poorly for all workers Nelson insists.
Listen: May Day Preview!
By Bob Hennelly
On the latest episode of WBAI’s "What’s Going On?” we preview multiple May Day events scheduled for our region to protest the first 100 days on the Trump/ Musk junta attack on democracy, union rights, our immigrant families, Medicaid, Social Security and public education.
Listen: Did Michael Mulgrew Just Admit He Screwed Up Retiree Healthcare?
By Joe Maniscalco
UFT President Micheal Mulgrew’s appearance on the latest episode of WBAI’s “What’s Going On?” show might be the closest he’s come to conceding he screwed up when deciding to back the plan to push 250,000 New York City municipal retirees and their families into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage health insurance plan.
No Praying Allowed: Rev. Dr. William Barber Arrested in D.C.
By Bob Hennelly
On Monday afternoon, Rev. Dr. William Barber and two others were arrested inside the U.S. Capitol for praying on behalf of the tens of millions of Americans set to lose their healthcare if Congress passes the pending GOP budget which cuts $800 billion from Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest households and corporations. They were held for three hours.
Listen: Trump Zeros in on Head Start and More
By Bob Hennelly
The Trump/Musk junta is doubling down on its assaults on Main Street and MLK Boulevard with plans to ZERO out Head Start, an educational lifeline for 800,000. Since President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, a succession of Republican and Democratic Party administrations have supported the program that helped 30 million children at the most pivotal time in their educational development.
Listen: Pope Francis Passes; Growing Support for Repealing NYS Stock Transfer Tax Rebate; And More
By Bob Hennelly
Pope Francis has died at 88 years old. Francis, a tireless champion of social justice, was the first pontiff from the Americas and the first Jesuit to be elevated to the Papacy. In the final months of his life he blasted the Trump/Musk junta plan for mass deportations.