Workers' World Today - Issue 44

BY JOHN LOGAN THE CONVERSATION

Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Los Angeles have voted to become the only unionized strippers in the U.S. – joining a growing trend of young employees seeking workplace protection though labor mobilization.

On May 18, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board announced that balloted employees at the topless bar had

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United Federation of Teachers (UFT) members are currently working under an expired contract. A fair contract would provide a fair wage increase to educators; allow more time to support students with less time spent on unnecessary tasks; ensure a safe school environment; and grant educators adequate prep time, among other important working-condition improvements.

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BY AMERICA’S VOICE

Washington, DC: The death of eightyear old Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez (“Ana”) in Border Patrol

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But in other crucial ways their campaign chimes with that of the other new union drives than have occurred recently in the United States.

Photo courtesy : AD/IQ INC

Photo:

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TO FILE A COMPLAINT CALL 311 AND ASK FOR DOB’S OFFICE OF THE TENANT ADVOCATE

Supports Workers’ World Today

Recently, I was in Albany fighting and seeking support of A1261/S1947, legislation that will create a clear definition of public work and level the playing field for New York’s contractors.

District Council 9 Painters and Allied Trades Union (DC9), the union for painters, prides itself on being a strong advocate for workers’ rights and safety. We are excited about this new publication, Workers’ World Today, which covers the issues of relevance and concern for all workers. We are encouraged that all workers: blue and white collar will have a voice and platform.

Congratulations on your inaugural issue. We wish much success to the leaders and team of Workers’ World Today and pledge our support.p

Davon Lomax Political Director, DC9

The People’s Money— Your Money to Improve Your Community

BY HON. ERIC ADAMS MAYOR OF NYC

Have you ever looked around your neighborhood and thought—it would be great if we could have a community garden here, or maybe more afterschool programs for students, or special services for seniors? Now, you can bring those ideas to life. “The People’s Money” is the first ever citywide participatory budgeting process run by our Civic Engagement Commission (CEC), and from today until June 25th, all New York City residents ages 11 and olderregardless of immigration status - can vote on how to spend $5 million dollars of our city’s budget. To do so, go to our website: on.nyc.gov/pb and vote on projects that your fellow New Yorkers have proposed.

You can vote on projects for your borough, and the residents of 33 equity neighborhoods can vote on one additional project that will be funded in their neighborhood. The projects have been carefully selected from hundreds of proposals that were brain-

stormed by New Yorkers in workshops across all five boroughs earlier this year. In fact, the CEC facilitated 523 Idea Generation sessions across the city in which 12,344 New Yorkers participated. If you have ideas that you would like to suggest, please consider participating in this phase of the process next year.

Participatory budgeting gives you a direct say in the future of your community. You decide how our money is spent. Participatory Budgeting strengthens our democracy and deepens civic engagement. I championed the program as Brooklyn Borough President, and as mayor, I have made it even bigger, giving New Yorkers more money to invest directly in their communities.

Some of this year’s proposals

include: a youth multicultural arts program in Manhattan; workplace skills training for adults with autism in the Bronx; an intergenerational mentoring program in Brooklyn; a young entrepreneurs program in Queens; and a women and young girls health center on Staten Island.

Proposals in the equity neighborhoods include: teaching Bed-Stuy history in Bedford Stuyvesant; coding 101 for BIPOC youth in Fordham Heights and University Heights; food access support on the Lower East Side and in Chinatown; multilingual job fairs in Corona; and outreach to unhoused people with disabilities in St. George, Stapleton, Port Richmond and Tompkinsville.

Most projects can be implemented in a year. So you don’t

Pearl Phillip Contributing Writers

Linda Nwoke

Victoria Falk

Travis Morales

Mary Campbell

Janet Howard

Chris Tobias

Telesford

have to wait endlessly to see the results. The winners will be announced by July and the CEC will work closely with the organizations to make sure that all projects are completed successfully.

You may have voted on Participatory Budgeting projects through your City Council Member, but “The People’s Money” is the first citywide process, and it uses mayoral funds.

Don’t miss this opportunity to vote on how to spend $5 million of your money. Visit on.nyc.gov/pb and vote today. p

HEART 9/11 Union Volunteers Help Train the Next Generation at the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture

HEART 9/11 and team leaders from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 and NYC District of Carpenters Council are working with seniors at the High School for Construction Trades, Engineer-

ing and Architecture (CTEA) in Ozone Park, Queens, where the next generation of young men and women are educated in preparation for college, technical school, and apprenticeships. Every Saturday over the next four weeks, the stu-

dents are getting hands-on training with skilled labor union members while building an 8' by 8' shed up to code. Work includes bas ic framing, outlet, switch installation, sheet rocking, and roofing. p

Mayor Eric Adams. Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Strippers Join the Fight

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voted 17-0 in favor of joining the Actors’ Equity Association. It makes Star Garden the first unionized strip club since the now-defunct Lusty Lady in San Francisco and Seattle. That 1996 union campaign was later the subject of the documentary “Live Nude Girls Unite.”

Lusty Lady shut its doors in Seattle in 2010, and three years later in San Francisco, making Star Garden if not the first then at present the only unionized strip club. But given the highprofile nature of the campaign – and the impact of union drives among young staff elsewhere – I believe that there is a high chance that Star Garden won’t be the last strip joint to unionize.

Rusty nails and broken glass Star Garden is the latest in a string of organizing breakthroughs. In 2022, 2,510 petitions for union representation were filed with National Labor Relations Board elections – a 53% increase from 2021 and the highest number since 2016. And petitions for union elections have continued to in-

crease in 2023.

Just as at Star Garden, many of the recent union victories have occurred in workplaces that previously seemed resistant to labor drives. Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Apple retail stores, REI, Ben & Jerry’s, Chipotle and Barnes & Noble are among the big-name companies that have seen staff unionize for the first time since workers voted to unionize at Starbucks in Buffalo in December 2021. And evidence suggests that a successful union drive leads to more. Workers at over 300 Starbucks stores have now voted to unionize, and their efforts have inspired young workers throughout the low-wage service sector.

But in other crucial ways their campaign chimes with that of the other new union drives than have occurred recently in the United States. Star Garden employs the same kind of young, self-assured workers that have contributed to the dynamism of union campaigns at Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and others. Most of the dancers are in their 20s and 30s, and they have proved assured spokespeople for the union during

the campaign’s extensive coverage in traditional and social media.

Youth-driven campaigns

In contrast to past generations of union drives, it is young employees that are spearheading the new push for unions. And they are doing so independently, with less outside mobilizing from established union leaders. The Star Garden workers self-organized and repeatedly pressured management to act on their concerns before deciding to petition for a union election with Actors’ Equity Union.

Moreover, the issues cited by Star Garden workers as evi-

dence of a need for union protection – sexual harassment by customers, unresponsive management and an unsafe working environment – are in many respects just more extreme versions of the problems that have driven many retail and foodservice-sector workers to mobilize.

Anti-union tactics

In common with workers at Starbucks, REI and Trader Joe’s, the Star Garden dancers concluded that having a union and collective bargaining was the surest way to remedy such problems. And like many of those other workforces, the Star Garden

strippers faced a long battle against management to achieve that goal.

The organizing campaign lasted for 15 months as a result of company’s efforts to fight worker organizing and then prevent a union vote.

Workers voted in a National Labor Relations Board election in November 2022, but management opposition prevented the labor board from counting the ballots until last week. Among other tactics, the owners of Star Garden are alleged to have retaliated against workers for protesting an unsafe working environment and claimed that the workers were

continued on page 5

Editorial credit: Johnny Silvercloud / Shutterstock.com

Workers’ Matters

Strippers Join the Fight

continued from page 4 independent contractors, not employees. Employers also filed for bankruptcy – an act that can void a union contract.

But the anti-union tactics failed. When the ballots were eventually counted, they showed that workers had voted unanimously for union recognition. In common with campaigns at Starbucks and elsewhere, the success at Star Garden suggests that traditional anti-union tactics may be less effective with today’s younger workers.

There is another common theme in the rash of union breakthroughs in recent years: They have generated headlines.

Star Garden may not have the big-name appeal to media outlets of, say, Starbucks or Amazon. But the nature of the business involved lends itself to widespread media and social coverage. In short, “strippers’ unionize” makes for great headlines.

The high profile of this and other drives is an important part of the story. Widespread social media and traditional

news coverage can raise awareness of the potential to unionize among other young workforces. It conveys to employees that organizing is something they can do, not just something they read about.

Time for a new corporate strategy?

There is also a takeaway from union drives by Star Garden strippers and other workers for corporations: The public may be tiring of old-style anti-union tactics, and it may be in their

interests to work with employees seeking to unionize.

As Lilith, one of the Star Garden dancers, told the BBC: “A union strip club is going to be a novelty in the United States. It will have customers from all over. … I think if both parties come to negotiate in good faith, we can create a really successful business together.”

From my perspective, it does prompt the question of whether it is time for company bosses to embrace unions. With over 70% of the public

approving of unions – and a much higher proportion of young workers – companies like Star Garden, Starbucks and REI could potentially benefit from marketing themselves as “good employers” who respect their workers’ right to choose a union.

Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s is one such company seemingly taking that approach. In January, it became the first major national employer to sign the Starbucks Workers United-initiated “Fair Election Principles,” which would guarantee workers a free and fair choice to unionize. The union recognition process at Ben & Jerry’s is scheduled for the Monday of Memorial Day weekend.

Star Garden may be the country’s only unionized topless bar. But it is part of a wider trend that is influencing attitudes toward mobilizing in young workforces across the country – from servers to ice cream scoopers and now strippers. p

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John Logan is a Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies, San Francisco State University

Editorial credit: Luigi Morris / Shutterstock.com

Following Historic 3-Day Strike, Queens Doctors Win Parity, End Strike

Queens, NY: The approximately 165 doctors employed by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (“Mount Sinai”) at Elmhurst Hospital have ended their unfair labor practice strike on May 24, with the doctors saying that Mount Sinai finally bargained in good faith and made movement that was sufficient for them to reach a tentative agreement after almost a year of negotiations. In addition to wage increases of 18% over three years, retroactive to November 2022, their tentative agreement includes a $2000 ratification bonus, an enforceable agreement to negotiate on hazard pay, a meal allowance that reaches parity with Mount Sinai Hospital residents, and the creation of a transportation committee. The doctors also won a chief differential pay of $3500, holiday pay and ACGME leave. The contract

will expire on June 30, 2025. Residents will return to work at 7AM on Thursday, May 25.

Represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIRSEIU), the physicians were the first residents to strike in New York in 33 years. With an increase in resident physicians organizing (around 8,000 residents and fellows have unionized since 2019), the residents at Elmhurst were the third hospital to authorize a strike in New York within a month’s time.

“This fight was always about power, and Elmhurst residents are truly building that together,” said Dr. Sarah Hafuth. “Getting a multi-billion-dollar revenue employer like Mount Sinai to move this far really shows what our movement as residents can achieve—even up against the most flagrant union busting and profit-driven corporations. Mount Sinai will now have to think twice

about leaving Elmhurst behind and perpetuating these disparities for union doctors in the future. I also know that we are part of a larger ongoing fight for justice in our lives and in health care—and we plan on continuing that fight.”

Resident physicians rarely strike, however, last year was the first time in over three

decades that strike authorization votes had been taken, with both Los Angeles County residents and Children’s Hospital Oakland residents authorizing strikes, which were averted when they reached tentative agreements. Also in California, Alameda Health System physicians just reached a groundbreaking tentative

deal last week following their ULP strike notice to their employer on May 15, while the three residency programs in New York who authorized strikes this month did so almost consecutively.

Resident physicians working at Mount Sinai Morningside West, employed by the Icahn School of Medicine, have also authorized a strike vote, with 99% of voting members in favor of striking if they do not reach a deal. A date has not been set for their strike.p

The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) is the largest house staff union in the United States. A local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing over 27,000 resident physicians and fellows. Our members are dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for our communities

Planning

Can You Make Your Own Estate Plan, Or Do You Need a Lawyer?

Do you anticipate family conflict over your property when you die? Do you live outside of the U.S. or own property outside the U.S.? How much do you expect your estate will be worth when you die? Are you interested in avoiding probate for your estate? Probate is a court-supervised process that can cost your loved ones time and money. Do you plan to leave property directly to your loved ones, and are your plans straightforward? Or are you hoping to make more complex gifts?

You may want to name the age at which your children or other minors receive their inheritances. Or you only want to make a gift if someone satisfies a specific requirement. (Example: You want your niece to get an inheritance only if she goes to college.) Do you want to make a gift for someone's lifetime but then pass it to someone else? (Example: You want your spouse to be able to use your home while they are alive, but after their death, you want the house to pass to your children from a previous marriage.)

Do you want to make a gift to someone with special needs? Do you want to gift someone who can't manage their finances, even in adulthood or with significant debt? (Example: You want to leave money to your son with a gambling addiction.)

Whenever you leave money or other forms of property to minors, you need to name someone to manage it, at least until they become adults. However, you don't need a lawyer to make this arrangement; there are many ways to do this, simply in a living trust or will.

Many lawyers recommend refraining from making conditional gifts (gifts that require the recipient to fulfill a requirement). These gifts create confusion and, at worst, can make your will unenforceable. But you'll need to see a lawyer if you still want to make a conditional gift. In other situations, you should get advice from an experienced estate planning attorney.

1. You Anticipate Family Conflict

While most families won't end up fighting over a will in court, some certainly do. If you're worried about disputes—for example, you have children from a previous marriage who you expect will clash with your spouse—consider consulting a lawyer. An estate planning attorney can help you anticipate future problems and identify and express your exact wishes for what you want to happen to your property.

2. You Live Abroad or Own Property in Another Country

Simply living abroad doesn't automatically disqualify you from using U.S.based online wills and estate planning software. If you're temporarily working, studying abroad, or on active duty for the military, you probably still have ties to a U.S. state. For estate planning purposes, you can make a will or living trust using a reputable DIY product based on U.S. laws. But if you've permanently relocated to another country, you should use a lawyer well-versed in the laws of your country or region.

If you've moved abroad but own property in the U.S., you can still use a DIY product or form to make a financial power of attorney (POA). This document names someone you trust to manage that U.S. property on your behalf.

If you want to create a health care directive (also known as a "living will" and "medical power of attorney"), you should use the forms that are familiar to the medical professionals where you're currently

living. This might mean consulting a lawyer in that country or using a standard form if one is available. Since a medical emergency can happen at anytime, you want your healthcare directive to be legally valid immediately in your country or region.

If you live in the U.S. but own a property abroad, you'll also want to consult a lawyer familiar with the country's laws to make plans for that property after your death.

3. You Might Owe Estate Taxes

Hardly anyone owns enough assets to trigger federal estate taxes when they die. Currently, for deaths in 2023, estates don't need to pay federal estate tax unless there's more than $12.92 million worth of property. This threshold amount is subject to change with the political climate, but even so, most people simply won't need to worry about it.

About a quarter of the U.S. states impose their state estate tax. While most of these states impose estate tax at a lower threshold than the federal estate tax—so that your estate may owe state estate tax but not federal estate tax—the tax rate for state estate tax is also lower.

If you own property valued in the millions and would like to explore ways to protect your assets from estate tax, consult an estate planning attorney specializing in transferring wealth.

4. You Have a Complex Goal for Your Estate Plan

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Organ Donor

4. You Have a Complex Goal for Your Estate Plan

You should also talk to a lawyer if you have complex conditions or plans for the inheritance you leave.

Conditional Gifts

Some people want to place conditions on gifts to their loved ones—for example, you want to leave money to a grandchild only if they graduate from college. While you might have good reasons for this restriction, conditional gifts can create confusion and lead to disputes over whether the condition has been fulfilled. We don't recommend making conditional gifts in your will or living trust, but if your heart is set on it, find an attorney to help.

Life Estates

Perhaps you want to leave property to one person (such as your spouse) for use during their lifetime but then have it pass to a different person (such as your child from a former marriage) upon the first person's death. If you want to arrange this (called a "life estate"), you'll need a lawyer to help you set it up.

Spendthrift Trusts

If you want to leave money to a loved one who has significant debt or is irresponsi-

Compensation Compensation

ble with money, you might be concerned about how that inheritance will be spent. One solution is a spendthrift trust, in which you name a trusted person or institution to dole out the money to your loved one a little at the time. Or you could earmark the money to pay certain expenses, such as rent, directly. The property in the trust is also protected from most creditors. If this sounds like something you want in your estate plan, find a good estate planning lawyer.

that special needs trust. But if your loved one doesn't have such an arrangement, see a lawyer who can also help you thoroughly explore your options for leaving gifts to someone with special needs.

6. You Own a Business

If you haven't yet made arrangements (for example, in an operating agreement or partnership agreement) for what will happen to your business before you become incapacitated or die, you should get a lawyer's help to make a plan.

When you make a commitment to donate healthy organs or tissue at the time of your death, you positively impact the lives of numerous others. When planning your legacy, it’s easy to have your loved ones at the forefront of your mind, but a simple registration could influence the health of a stranger. According to the United States Department of Health & Human Services, there are two ways to sign up to be an organ donor. From the comfort of your home, visit their website and fill out a simple form. If you would rather complete the process with a representative, the experts at the local Department of Motor Vehicles can help.

How You Can Help

5.

You Want to Leave Property to Someone With Special Needs

If your loved one has special needs or a disability, be cautious about how you leave money or property to them. If your loved one receives government benefits, an increase in their assets can easily jeopardize their eligibility.

If your loved one already has a special needs trust set up on their behalf, you can make a simple will that leaves money for

Legal Help

Estate planning is a necessity, not a luxury! Consult with the Law Firm of Figeroux & Associates. With over two decades of experience, you are in the right hands. Experience matters! Call 855-768-8845 or schedule an appointment at www.askthelawyer.usp

Adults who are legal citizens of the United States are eligible to donate organs at the time of death, and, in some cases, during their lifetime. Of course, certain diseases may inhibit you from becoming a donor; be honest about your health conditions during registration.

Make sure to discuss your wishes with your family. Conversations regarding death are never easy. You should approach the subject with sensitivity by discussing the benefits that registration offers to others.p

One in six residents in nursing homes and community facilties were neglected last year resulting in thousands of families experiencing trauma, mental illness, medical emergencies, and even death. Nursing home abuse and neglect is real.

Has your loved one experienced any of these or other types of abuse?

•Bedsores

•Choking/Death

•Falls

•Fractured Bones

•Infections

•Improper Treatment/Medication

•Malnutrition/Dehydration

•Respiratory Illness

•Sexual Abuse

•Sexual Assault

Experience matters. The lawyer you hire does make a difference. Schedule a consultation now.

Get compensation for your loved one’s suffering. Call 855-768-8845 or visit www.askthelawyer.us

What Happens If You Die Without a Will?

BY MARY CAMPBELL

Beloved actor Chadwick Boseman, star of Marvel’s iconic Black Panther, died in 2020 at 43 from colon cancer. Although he knew for some time that he was dying, he did not make a will. His estate was split evenly between his widow and his parents, following a legal process called “intestacy” – the rules governing someone’s estate if they don’t have a will.

Boseman was one of around 66% of Americans who didn’t make a will before he died.

You know you should make a will, but you never seem to be able to drum up much enthusiasm for the idea. It seems like a big, complicated pain-in-the-butt undertaking and you’re not planning on dying anytime soon anyway. You know that lawyers cost a fortune, and who knows if you really can legally use one of those online will kits? Differing opinions abound. So, you wonder, what does happen if you don’t make a will? Can the government really take all your possessions that the bank doesn’t already own most of?

The short answer is probably not. Unless you are truly completely alone in the

world with no blood ties whatsoever, there is likely a relative somewhere that is eligible to inherit, if they can be found. In fact, British television has aired a program called Heir Hunters, which is described as “a series following the work of heir hunters, probate detectives looking for distant relatives of people who have died without making a will”. In the U.S., private investigation firms will attempt to find a potential heir, but someone presumably must hire them before they will begin to look. Of course, if the estate is large, anyone may undertake to find lost relatives in hopes of receiving a commission

for the information from a grateful heir. In the end though, it is possible that if an heir cannot be found after a reasonable length of time has passed, then yes, eventually your estate will escheat (pass) to the appropriate governing body.

However, for an average individual with no shortage of relatives in line to legally inherit your worldly goods, the application of the relevant inheritance laws certainly doesn’t mean that your estate will be distributed in a manner that you would approve of. Intestacy (the legal term for dying without a will) laws vary widely, depending on where you live. Your spouse,

for instance, may find that the laws of your state are not altogether favourable to him or her when you have children involved, perhaps from a previous marriage. Common law and same sex partners may or may not be recognized as eligible to inherit. A close relative you cannot stand the sight of may be first in line if you have no spouse or children. Read our informative website at www.willsandestates.nyc

Finally, it is important to note that in addition to the disposition of your estate, regardless of the value, your will also functions as the vehicle through which you will make your final wishes known. You will appoint a trusted executor/executrix to a position of authority to administer your final wishes, which may include instructions for your desired funeral arrangements and interment, the distribution of personal items of great sentimental but minimal monetary value, or your choice of a guardian for your young children.

Without a doubt, dying without a will robs you of your right to have a say in the settling of your affairs and creates unnecessary hardship for those closest to you, as they are left to deal with the legal techni-

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Bob Marley died intestate even though he knew he had cancer and lingered for nearly eight months. His estate, worth a reported $30 million, had dozens of claimants.

Editorial credit: Gabriela Beres / Shutterstock.com

Planning for a Disabled Child

Estate pre-planning should be an important part of everyone’s financial regimen, but this process becomes even more important when you have a child with disabilities.

A lot of factors go into creating a uniquely designed plan, depending on their unique personal challenges and whether they are a minor or adult. The goal is to help your special-needs child continue to lead an enriching, happy life even in your absence.

A Lifetime of Care

The larger goal of special-needs planning is to preserve public aid while also supplementing your child’s care. There are additional benefits to taking care of this right away: If plans are put in place while you’re still alive, the estate avoids probate. Others interested parties, like their grandparents, can contribute to a trust. Named co-trustees can also get hands-on experience in helping with childcare and administering the guardianship. Depending on the child’s capability, this moneymanagement program may be critically important since it will be the only future path to protecting eligibility for benefits. It will provide additional funds for a broader scope of care and create a financial resource should benefits become re-

stricted or end all together.

Special-Needs Trust

Children are at particular risk if they are unable to live independently after the death of a parent of guardian. A specialneeds trust can ensure that they are provided with needed resources and care over the course of their lifetime. Parents or guardians should name the trust as a beneficiary in their will, according to the American Bar Association, instead of the

child. Many public-aid options are designed to be resource dependent, meaning recipients aren’t eligible if they have access to a certain amount of money. These trusts allow for an inheritance without endangering aid provided by Medicaid, SSI or other government programs because assets held in trust are not directly available to the child. Funds from life-insurance policies, IRAs and retirement plans can also be directed to the trust, and the child still has access to other programs.

Designating a Caretaker

Beyond the obvious financial considerations, parents and guardians must select a designated caretaker to look after their special-needs child — or to manage their care, if the child is in an assisted-living environment. Work with an attorney who specializes in estate planning in order to create both a trust and this succession plan, since states have differing regulations and laws regarding who may serve as a legal guardian p

Without a Will/continued from page 3

essary hardship for those closest to you, as they are left to deal with the legal technicalities on their own.

Changes in Tax Laws

It can be hard to stay up-to-date on constantly changing tax laws, but it’s necessary to keep your final document in good legal standing. Especially if your will takes actions to address estate tax issues, it’s a good idea to receive periodic reviews by an attorney.

Ask for Advice

A will is your ironclad way to disperse your assets to loved ones as you wish. Don’t be afraid to ask your legal expert for advice on other moments that may benefit your last will and testament. Remember, this document is incredibly important to keep accurate as it articulates your vision and solidifies your legacy.p

Refinancing This Spring? How to Choose Between Variable and Fixed Interest Rates

BY EQUITY SMART REALTY INC

From choosing a real estate agent to finding the right home, the process of getting a mortgage is rife with many different choices. If you're investing down the road, it's likely that you've heard about variable and fixed interest rates and are wondering about the differences between the two and how they can benefit you. While what will work best for you depends on your financial flexibility and market knowledge, here are some basics that will help you make a decision.

The Details on Fixed Rates

For many homeowners new to the market, the stability of a fixed rate is comforting because the interest rate will be set for the length of the loan period. This means your monthly mortgage payment will be the same and you will not be required to adjust your budget each month. While knowing your rate can offer financial security in a fluctuating market, it may actually end up costing more

money down the road depending on what the rates are like over time.

All About Variable Rates

A fixed rate can provide security, but a variable rate is much like it sounds and will fluctuate with the market interest rate. This means that your monthly mortgage payment will not be fixed and in the event of market increases or decreases, your mortgage payment may change markedly. While the benefit of variable rates is that they can actually end up costing less down the road, they can be a burden for those who do not have market knowledge and are going to feel the stress of changing rates.

Choosing Between the Two

While it's expected that interest rates will rise in the coming years, there are still no guarantees that variable rates will end up costing more than a fixed rate. This means that if you are comfortable with the fluctuations,

a variable rate may be better, but if it's consistency you're looking for, you may want to choose a fixed rate. If you are struggling with financial stability month-to-month, a variable rate may be more economical over time, but a fixed rate will offer the security of knowing your costs.

Guidance

There are benefits associated with fixed and variable rates, but it's important to determine how comfortable you are with the real estate market and your finances before making a decision. If you're currently on the market for a new home, you may want to contact one of our professionals for more information. Call 888-670-6791. p

Old & New Immigrants: Their Rights

600 Children Would Lose Child Care With End of Free NYC Program for Undocumented Families

BY REEMA AMIN CHALKBEAT

Angela and her family left their home in Colombia after her husband, a police officer, received multiple death threats amid rising violence in the South American country. Along with thousands of asylum seekers, her family arrived in New York City in September. They made ends meet through her husband’s sporadic construction gigs, but Angela, unable to find affordable private child care, stayed home to watch her toddler son. Then, through tips from other newly arrived Colombian mothers, Angela discovered a new city pilot program called Promise NYC, which in January began covering up to $700 a week in child care for low-income, undocumented immigrant families. In late March, Angela’s son, just shy of 2 years old, became one of about 600 children who received vouchers to enroll in subsidized day care or after-school programs that are otherwise unavailable to those without legal immigration status.

Angela has since started a part-time job cleaning, is taking courses that would allow her to work in construction, and is figuring out how to obtain legal immigration status. But that could all end on July 1, if the City Council approves Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed budget, which slashes the pilot program for next fiscal year.

“My child wouldn’t be able to share or he wouldn’t be able to learn and grow with other children in the day care that he is part of, and I would have to resort to finding alternatives that I’m not yet prepared for,” Angela said through a translator.

The move has confused pro-

gram providers, advocates, and some City Council members, who described Promise NYC as successful and netting more demand than they expected. The mayor himself touted the $10 million initiative in his vision for early childhood education last year, but in recent months, advocates became worried that Adams would cut the program. Spokespeople for City Hall and the Administration for Children’s Services, or ACS, declined to explain the mayor’s decision.

”To take that away would mean, you know, possibly the family loses employment or a kid has nowhere to go during the day,” said Kimberly Warner, deputy director of legal, organizing, and advocacy services for the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, or NMIC, a nonprofit organization tapped by the city to help enroll children in Manhattan and The Bronx. “It would be very destabilizing.”

The mayor has proposed cuts across many city agencies, including about 3% of the education department’s budget, citing in part rising costs as more asylum seekers come to the city.

A group of about a dozen elected officials, including some City Council members and state lawmakers, have called for the city to provide $20 million for the program next year, which would cover the same number of slots for a full year. Some are hoping for even more funding, as thousands of newcomer immigrants are expected in New York City.

In a statement, Queens Council member Tiffany Cabán, one of the lawmakers who pushed to create Promise NYC, said the program has been a “game changer.”

Without legal immigration status, undocumented immigrants have limited options for work, often turning to lowpaying, under-the-table jobs. Nearly 29% of undocumented New Yorkers were living in poverty as of 2017, compared to 18% of naturalized citizens at the time, according to city estimates.

That means many likely struggle to pay for child care, but undocumented children typically don’t qualify for state or federally backed programs because they must be legal residents of the United States. HeadStart programs are an exception, but there are a limited number of seats, providers said.

Private care is pricey: In 2022, the median annual cost of toddler care in Manhattan was just over $17,800, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Three and 4-year-old children can attend many of the city’s free preschool programs, regardless of immigration status. But there are some programs within the city’s sprawling system, run through centers and by organizations outside of brick-and-mortar school buildings, that require children to be legal residents, including those that offer care past 3 p.m., advocates pointed out.

“That is the exact problem that Promise NYC was trying to resolve,” said Betty Baez Melo, director of the Early Childhood Education Project at Advocates for Children New York.

After advocacy from elected officials last year, City Hall agreed to launch the program. Adams even touted Promise NYC in his “Blueprint for Child Care & Early Childhood Education in New York City,” saying it would allow families to seek care “without compromising the confidentiality of their immigration status.”

The program was publicly announced in December 2022 and launched one month later, in mid-January. The four organizations charged with doing outreach and connecting families to child care are responsible for making sure families are eligible.

Warner, from NMIC, said she and her team were overwhelmed and “surprised” by the calls that immediately flooded in, mostly seeking care for kids ages 2 to 7 years old. They’ve enrolled 245 children across Manhattan and the Bronx and have roughly 150 people on a wait list. According to an ACS spokesperson, 600 children — the agency’s target — enrolled across all five boroughs by the end of

April. Costs were fully covered for all but three children, the spokesperson said.

The Chinese-American Planning Council, which was tapped to oversee enrollment in Queens, has about 170 people on a waiting list, said Sumon Chin, the organization’s director of early childhood learning and wellness services.

Besides handling high demand, Chin’s organization also struggled to find child care options for infants and toddlers in certain pockets of Queens that are known as “child care deserts,” such as the Corona neighborhood. Along with keeping the program, Chin hopes the city will provide more funding so that each organization can hire more help, due to the demand and difficulty of the work.

Soneyllys, a mother from the Dominican Republic, enrolled her toddler son in day care through Promise NYC in February. Since then, she has noticed he’s talking and is generally more active at home.

It also allowed her to work for the first time since coming to the United States two years ago, she said through a translator.

She worries that losing child care will make it difficult to get legal immigration status.

“I cannot afford day care, and I will not be able to give my child a better life because I don’t have the opportunity to find a full-time job that I can provide for my child,” she said. p

This story was published on May 19, 2023 by THE CITY.

Read more immigration stories like at www.askthelawyer.us

Old & New Immigrants: Their Rights

Death of Ana / continued from page 1

custody is a terrible tragedy that puts into sharp relief why the United States should reject the notion of detaining children and families.

Reports indicate that Ana and her family were held in U.S. detention facilities for more than twice the amount of time government standards allow. Other reports highlight that the family’s persistent pleas for medical assistance were dismissed or ignored by authorities. These details underscore the larger point expressed by Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, to the New York Times: “The bottom line is you need to get families out of C.B.P. custody because the conditions generally are substandard and not appropriate for kids to be held in.”

According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

“It is atrocious that yet another family has to mourn their child because of our collective inability to fix our broken immigration system. Our hearts are with her family, and tens of

thousands of other families whose pursuit of a better life ends in tragedy. The CBP needs to learn from this tragedy and take the necessary steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. And Republicans such as Josh Hawley, who purport to care about the ‘pervasive maltreatment of migrant children’, cannot get away with simultaneously endorsing inhumane and enforcement-only policies and supporting lawsuits and legislation that eviscerate safe and orderly alternatives to a trek to the U.S. border.”

Clearly conditions for children, families and adults in custody have been a recurring problem across administrations, but there has been a particular problem with access to health care. The steps the Biden administration is taking to identify those with special health needs are welcome, but the health and safety of everyone in custody must be a top priority, especially if facilities are crowded.

Meanwhile, several Republican-driven efforts are attempting to make the chaos and inhumanity all the worse.

Ahead of Ana’s death, immigration legal and policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick noted his fear that the ruling by a conservative Florida T. Kent Wetherell II to “block the new ‘parole plus conditions’ policy might lead to deaths just as happened in 2019, when children died in overcrowded Border Patrol cells.”

Subsequently, Reichlin-Melnick detailed, “On Friday, May 12, the DOJ argued that Wetherell’s order blocking parole would slow releases and increase overcrowding, and thus ‘could jeopardize the health and safety’ of migrants.

On Wednesday, May 17, 8year-old Anadith died in a border cell. She’d been in custody nine days.”

Additionally, Republicans are also seeking to block or dismantle alternative pathways that help alleviate border pressures and help ensure both safety and order – including legal and legislative GOP efforts to eviscerate parole programs that help alleviate chaos and inhumanity at the border.p

Every day, members of the UFT go above and beyond academics and provide a wellrounded education that includes social-emotional support and a caring, inclusive environment. Students need their educators more than ever, and educators need this contract. "UFT educators demand and deserve a fair contract," Mulgrew said last month. "We were celebrated by City Hall as essential workers during the height of the pandemic. Now, despite record levels of reserves, there is a reluctance to do the right thing for the people who are lifelines for our city's children and families."

On Wednesday, May 24 thousands of teachers and their supporters (including the CLC) in every borough of New York City gathered to deliver a strong message to Mayor Adams: New York City teachers need a fair contract now! Follow the teachers' fight on Twitter and Facebook and check out more great photos and videos from this week's rallies using #UFTFairContractNow!p

UFT Rally for Fair Contract / continued from page 1

Editorial credit: Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com

Nurses Want Public Hospitals to Close Salary, Staffing Gaps

BY BARBARA CARESS URBAN MATTERS

New York City’s public hospital system faces high-stakes contract negotiations with the largest single component of its workforce: its registered nurses. At issue: A widening gap between what RNs earn in private and public hospitals – a pay differential that is causing public hospitals to hemorrhage fulltime nurses.

The City’s contract with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) expired on March 2nd. While public hospital nurses are prohibited from striking, should a new deal not be reached soon, other job actions can’t be ruled out. A status quo that has public hospital RNs intensely dissatisfied turned a March 23rd budget hearing by the City Council Hospitals Committee into a forum about nurses’ pay, involving management and nurses.

Dr. Mitchell Katz, the presi-

dent of the public New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (H+H), acknowledged that H+H was losing RNs, saying that 25 percent of 8,000 fulltime positions were vacant. He testified that H+H was using temporary staff to fill in for the missing 2,000 fulltime nurses.

Meanwhile, at a later NYSNA rally, City Comptroller Brad Lander estimated that H+H spent $200 million during a recent three-month period “to bring nurses in from out of state rather than paying what [public hospital] nurses deserve.”

H+H’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024 (which begins July 1st) assumes an operating loss due to the continuing cost of temporary RN staffing. (In a similar vein, a May report from the State Comptroller concludes that, “It is likely that the extended use of temporary nurses by H+H will continue until at least FY 2024.”)

RNs in public hospitals have typically earned less than their

private hospital colleagues. Before the most recent agreement between NYSNA and the private hospitals, reached after a three-day strike at several hospitals in January, the gap was in a two-to-five percent range. Now, however, as Sonia Lawrence, an RN who works at H+H’s Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, testified to the City Council, “The gap between our pay and private sector nurse pay is only getting bigger and more unfair.”

NYSNA’s new private hospital agreement means that, absent H+H raises, the privatepublic pay gap will reach 20 percent by December 31st, 2025, with public hospital entry-level nurses earning $19,000 less annually and more experienced nurses as much as $25,000 less by the end of that contract period.

The estimated annual cost of parity, $160$170 million, is less than the cost of temporary RNs in the public hospitals. So the sticking point for management is not the cost of a new NYSNA contract, but the opposition of Mayor Eric Adams’s administration to pattern-bust -

At a NYSNA rally, City Comptroller Brad Lander estimated that H+H spent $200 million during a recent three-month period “to bring nurses in from out of state rather than paying what [public hospital] nurses deserve.”

ing in negotiating raises. (Previous administrations have also often shared that view.)

The City’s new multi-year collective bargaining agreements with the more than 150,000 members of the giant District Council 37 and the 24,000-member Police Benevolent Association top out at wage increases of less than four percent a year. NYSNA, meanwhile, wants raises of seven, six, and five percent (20 percent, compounded) over the next three years.

NYSNA is threatening to trigger a long-dormant contract clause that dates from the Giuliani administration. It commits the City to come within $1,000 of RN salaries at Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and Maimonides, among other private hospitals. The clause was suspended for the 2019-2023 contract, as it has been for every collective bargaining agreement since 1995. The City has not denied its obligation. “We have listened to stories about how salaries impact staffing,” a City spokesperson told NYSNA bargainers. “This will take time to see how we can manage and make a proposal to you.... The answer is not ‘no.’ It's a timing thing.”

Waiting has an on-going price. “Every week that the City takes its time to come up with a parity proposal,” according to a NYSNA source, “they are wasting more and more money on expensive travel nurses, and more staff nurses are leaving for better pay in the private sector.”

Even with the use of temporary nurses, public hospitals are understaffed.

“I work on the Med-Surg [medical-surgical] floor caring for 11-13 patients at a time on a normal day; the number I can safely care for is four or five,” a Harlem Hospital RN testified

to the City Council. “And our union contract forbids more than six. Our new nurses get a sink-or-swim introduction to City hospitals and they are quick to leave us for higher pay and lower patient loads. Many don’t even complete orientation before starting a search for jobs with better working conditions.”

Stacey Reid, another RN who works at Harlem Hospital, noted that “Public hospital nurses are used to doing more with less. But working conditions are so unbearable and the pay disparity so big between the public and private sector, we are hemorrhaging nurses. Most new nurses don’t stay for the long term and we have too many temporary agency nurses who don’t know our patients or our community.”

Historically, Black professionals were better treated at public hospitals than at private institutions. The Harlem Hospital School of Nursing opened in 1923 to train young Black women systematically excluded from other nursing programs. It closed in 1977, but a few graduates are likely still scattered among H+H staff. Blacks and Hispanics make up less than 40 percent of private hospital RNs; they’re more than 60 percent of H+H RNs. A number of H+H nurses work in the very same hospitals they were born in.

History and roots help explain why some 6,000 RNs continue to work in understaffed H+H facilities for subpar wages. In emotional testimony at the City Council’s budget hearing, one of them, Shaiina Marston, put it this way: “I want to give back to my community and care for people who look like me, because I care.”p

Barbara Caress has worked for many years in non-profit, union, and public agency health care policy and administration. She teaches public health policy at Baruch College.

NYC Central Labor Council Delegates Re-Elect Alvarez and Hinds

New York, NY: The delegates of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO on Thursday approved fourth terms for President Vincent Alvarez and Secretary-Treasurer Janella T. Hinds. The vote carried by acclamation at a meeting of 148 delegates representing 69 unions.

Alvarez and Hinds, the labor federation’s first Latino President and Black Secretary-Treasurer, respectively, have a combined 60 years in the labor movement. President Alvarez, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, worked in the electrical industry for 17 years before becoming a staffer at the CLC and later the New York State AFL-CIO. He also serves as a Class C Director and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on nu-

merous other boards and committees. An educator by trade, Secretary-Treasurer Hinds got her start in labor as a social

studies teacher, and has also worked for the New York State AFL-CIO. Ms. Hinds is currently the UFT’s Vice President

of Academic High Schools. Both were elected to the CLC for the first time in 2011.

The delegates also elected the CLC’s 40-member Executive Board. Thirty-eight previously serving Board members were re-elected; new members include Nancy Hagans, President of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A.

“Janella and I are humbled and honored to have been once again elected to serve alongside the talented and dedicated members of the CLC’s Executive Board,” said Alvarez. “We look forward to working with them and with all of our affiliates to meet both the challenges NYC workers face and the historic moment we’re in— because we know that when the New York City Labor Movement stands to-

gether and fights together, we win.”

“Vinny and Janella are outstanding and dynamic leaders, and I am thrilled that they have been re-elected to keep fighting for working New Yorkers,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “I am confident that their invaluable depth of knowledge and experience will strengthen and unify our movement, as well as advance transformative policies and campaigns that empower workers. I’m excited to continue working alongside them for another four years to expand access to unions and to make meaningful progress for working families.”

The election results became official last night, following a five-day period as required by rules governing the CLC. Terms will officially begin on July 1. p

Photo courtesy AFL-CIO

Should You Tell Your Boss about Your Mental Illness? Here’s What to Weigh Up

BY ELIZABETH STRATTON & NICK GLOZIER THE CONVERSATION

Whether you know about it or not, it’s likely someone you work with or manage has a mental illness. One in five persons have experienced a mental illness in the last 12 months.

Many people stay silent about their mental illness at work. Roughly 50%–70% of employees choose not to disclose their condition. This may leave employees vulnerable, as employers can’t provide individual support without disclosure.

Over the years, many experts and commentators have suggested workers stay silent about mental illness, for fear of stigma and discrimination, and to protect their jobs.

But the evidence suggests there are often benefits to disclosing a mental health condition at work.

What does the research say?

The largest Australian study of stigma, from 2018, found employees who disclosed their mental health conditions to their employers were well supported. They reported receiving accommodations such as flexible work arrangements and time off for appointments. They also felt supported by their colleagues and managers.

Our team conducted a randomised controlled trial involving 107 adults considering disclosing their mental health concerns at work. Participants used our newly developed online decision aid to make an informed decision about disclosing their mental health concerns to their employers. It includes seven modules to guide users to consider the potential outcomes, benefits and challenges of disclosing.

A review of the decision aid found the people who disclosed their mental health condition at work reported a

reduction in symptoms of depression and stress (from severe to moderate), on average, compared to those who chose to stay silent. This finding was based on self-reported clinical diagnostic scales for depression and validated measures of stress.

Other research shows disclosure can, for some people, lead to increased social support and better mental health. Being open about a mental health condition reduces self-stigma (negative beliefs people develop about themselves due to societal stigma and discrimination), increases empowerment and facilitates a sense of power and control.

Our team conducted a randomised controlled trial involving 107 adults considering disclosing their mental health concerns at work. Participants used our newly developed online decision aid to make an informed decision about disclosing their mental health concerns to their employers. It includes seven modules to guide users to consider the potential outcomes, benefits and challenges of disclosing.

A review of the decision aid found the people who disclosed their mental health condition at work reported a reduction in symptoms of depression and stress (from severe to moderate), on average, compared to those who chose to stay silent. This finding was based on selfreported clinical diagnostic scales for depression and validated measures of stress.

The decision aid is now publicly available and free to use through

the New South Wales State Insurance Regulatory Authority.

Changing the culture

Many people with mental illnesses worry disclosing their condition will result in negative consequences, such as losing their job, being passed over for promotions, or being treated unfairly by colleagues.

These worries are major barriers to disclosure – and can become a reality for some people who disclose.

However, the world of work is changing. Employees are seeking jobs that prioritise mental health, with many saying they would take a pay cut for an organisation that promotes and implements measures focused on employees mental health and happiness.

People who are open about their experiences with mental ill-health can experience increased self-acceptance and feelings of connectedness. Disclosure can help people feel more understood and supported by others, which in turn can lead to greater feelings of self-worth and belonging.

Sharing their experiences helps to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness and foster a culture of openness, understanding and empathy among peers. It can also help colleagues overcome the fear of stigma.

So how can employers create safe environments for disclosure?

Managers have a huge responsibility when it comes to their employee’s mental health. According to recent research, managers have just as much impact on an employee’s mental health as their partner, and significantly more than their

doctor or therapist.

Managers need to ensure they provide a safe and supportive environment in which to disclose mental ill-health. This requires knowledge and confidence. Managers can emphasise the support and resources available to employees who choose to disclose, rather than dwelling on what the staff member might lose or the potential impact on the organization.

People who perceive their disclosure positively tend to have supportive managers. As “David” from our research told us:

Five years ago, and at the very tail-end of my career, I thought I’d confide in a boss. His first words were, ‘What can we do to help you?’ With those simple words, he instantly won my undying loyalty.

With an increasing focus on mental wellbeing at work, it’s time our mental health advocates moved away from messages to stay silent. Instead, we need to ensure all staff with mental health conditions can access much-needed workplace support and accommodations.

By creating environments where employees feel safe and supported to share their experiences, we can begin to break down the barriers to disclosure and create workplace cultures that prioritise mental health and wellbeing. For many, disclosure can be positive and we have the tools to help.p

Elizabeth Stratton is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney. Nick Glozier is a Professor of Psychological Medicine, BMRI & Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Sydney

Sharing their experiences helps to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness and foster a culture of openness, understanding and empathy among peers.

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

MANY FACTORS COME INTO PLAY WHEN IT COMES TO MENTAL HEALTH.

TAKE SOME TIME TO LOOK AROUND AND MAKE NOTE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS, AND LOOK WITHIN TO SEE HOW THEY MIGHT BE AFFECTING YOU.

A MENTAL HEALTH TEST IS ONE OF THE EASIEST WAYS TO CHECK IN ON YOURSELF IF SOMETHING DOESN’T FEEL QUITE RIGHT.

MHASCREENING.ORG

Four Ways Porn Ruins Relationships

While many see pornography as a way to enhance sexual pleasure within a healthy relationship, the continuing use of porn is often an sign of disconnection and dissatisfaction. How? Porn creates unrealistic sexual expectations that real sex between partners cannot deliver on.

Love is the most wonderful feeling in the world. There is no feeling like it with the power to heal and to lift someone up. It is what leads to friendships and even romances. It leads to a trust like none other. In the case of romance, this trust often leads to life-long commitment in the form of marriage. However, it can all fall apart in an instant once that trust is shattered, and porn can easily contribute to the shattering of that trust. Here's how.

1. Trust is Gone

You know that shattered trust mentioned above? Once it is

broken, it is so hard to repair and even harder to replace once lost. To women especially, it feels as if the spouse is bringing another woman into their marriage bed. It is the equivalent of cheating.

2. Dishonesty

The partner looking at porn often feels the need to hide it from their partner for fear of an unfavorable reaction. But the problem with that is that people can usually tell when

someone is hiding something. Secrets are never a good idea. Again, it is a trust thing.

3. Unrealistic Expectations

Porn is addictive not because the people being watched are more attractive than the current partner, but because it is different. It becomes a sort of high and a challenge to keep searching for something new and unique. The problem with that, though, is that what the spouse does have to offer is no

longer satisfying. For a while, the spouse may try to meet the lofty standards and expectations even if it goes against an innate desire not to do so. However, eventually it will build resentment.

4.

Shame

Shame is a relationship killer as much as broken trust. The partner hiding the porn addiction is ashamed of having the addiction. It just feels dirty to have secrets from a loved one, especially knowing that it is much like cheating or that it often leads to cheating. And, from the partner's perspective, shame is felt because of the awareness of being compared to sex objects. It is a feeling of not being able to measure up to lustier competition and a sense of lowered self-esteem.

Dealing With Your Partner Watching Porn

If you're unhappy about your partner watching porn, speak to them about it. Agonizing in

silence will only make the situation worse. Approach the discussion while still expressing mindfulness for your partner and their needs. It is important to establish a safe space to have a sensitive conversation. Always, share your concerns, wants, and needs."

Ask yourself and discuss with your partner the following:

•What worries you about your partner watching porn?

•How does it make you feel about yourself? About the relationship?

•Why is your partner watching porn?

•How's your sex life going? Could it improve?

•How can both partners' needs be met with the most consideration?

If you are into porn and it has not ruined your relationship yet, there is a good chance that it will. Take heed of these reasons and seek help for the addiction before it is too late.p

855-768-8845

If you are into porn and it has not ruined your relationship yet, there is a good chance that it will.

Community Safety Agenda: Public Safety Needs a Public Health Approach

BY TIERRA BRADFORD CIVILRIGHTS.ORG

Last month, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as part of a coalition of nearly 70 civil rights and justice organizations, sent a letter to the leadership of the 118th Congress urging them to advance a Community Safety Legislative Agenda. This agenda calls for the investment in historically underfunded programs that reduce crime and help make communities safer, and it is central to our movement for changing the way our government approaches public safety.

When people think of public safety, their first thoughts often revolve around punishment. Law enforcement and incarceration have been the

main staples of public safety since the 1800s. Our country’s obsession with policing and incarceration has led to a fourdecade rise in mass incarceration. And the truth is that we rely on a system that doesn’t really work: Incarceration has very little impact on reducing crime, but it has significant costs — and research actually shows that factors outside of incarceration are better for public safety. If we are serious about public safety, then we have to invest in policies that keep people from entering or returning to the criminallegal system. It’s time that we expand our thinking when it comes to improving public safety.

Because of our commitment to finding solutions that are shown to significantly improve public safety, The Lead-

ership Conference is part of the community safety working group, a joint project of more than 50 civil rights, public health, racial justice, housing, violence prevention, economic justice, and allied organizations nationwide dedicated to building safety that works for all communities. The goal of

this group is to advance new policies that invest in people and communities to keep everyone safe. This working group essentially takes a public health approach to community safety by addressing the economic, social, and environmental conditions that lead to violence in the first place. We

know that by addressing these issues head on we can prevent violence in our communities — because prevention is the most effective way to keep people healthy and safe.

One of the ways this group is working to push proactive solutions for public safety is by

continued on page 21

Public Safety/

continued from page 18

proposing a set of legislative priorities that lawmakers should embrace to advance community safety across the fields of health and prevention programs, housing and economic security, and youth, families, and community spaces. This community safety agenda addresses issues outside of the confines of policing and incarceration by uplifting existing legislation and policy solutions that address genuine safety issues. With a proactive public health approach, there may be concern about how we can address violence when it occurs in our communities. The community safety agenda includes three bills that directly address community health and preventative public safety and that would enact evidence-based methods like violence intervention, non-carceral crisis response, access to voluntary care, peer counseling, noncarceral approaches to traffic safety, and improvements to our public health workforce. For example, the People’s Response Act would create a new “Division on Community

Safety” within the Department of Health and Human Services, which would treat safety as a public health issue by funding evidence-informed interventions that advance safety outside of policing structures and bolster preventative, noncarceral safety programming. Similarly, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act would create an office to support community violence intervention workforce development and fund community violence intervention programs. The

Mental Health Justice Act would support governments and community-based organizations operating fully noncarceral programs that train and dispatch mental health professionals responding during mental health and related crises. All of these bills invest in violence prevention that make our communities safer and stronger.

Public safety isn’t just about some people being safe. Everyone deserves to be safe regardless of who they are or where

they live, but this isn’t always the case — especially for communities of color and other vulnerable communities. The current system of policing and criminalization disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities and harms people with disabilities. Additionally, the current system contributes to a cycle of violence in our communities. It’s past time that we have systems in place that don’t harm entire communities in the name of public safety. A majority of voters agree that real safety requires preventing violence and harm in the first place, not just reacting after something happens. The safest places in the country don’t have more police, more jails, more prisons, and harsher sentences. They have access to jobs, good schools, housing, and health care.

To ensure all people can feel safe and be safe, the nation must turn to evidence-based strategies that lead to actual safety and genuine accountability.p

Tierra Bradford is the senior manager of the justice reform program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

NYC CLC Resolution in Support of Worker Organizing

The Executive Board of the NYC CLC on Thursday, May 18th adopted a resolution in support of worker organizing, reaffirming our support for workers across all sectors of New York City who face significant challenges in organizing and bargaining for living wages, benefits, and better working conditions.

The NYC CLC resolved to work to mobilize its affiliates and allies to support worker campaigns, including new organizing/union recognition campaigns, contract campaigns, and strikes, through public education and outreach, direct action, and political advocacy; and that the NYC CLC will make available its own resources to affiliates and to unorganized workers in support of such actions.p

Public safety isn’t just about some people being safe. Everyone deserves to be safe regardless of who they are or where they live, but this isn’t always the case — especially for communities of color and other vulnerable communities.

The Various Forms of Car Accidents in New York City

In a recent incident, an older adult traveling in a black Honda CRV around 10:45 a.m. reportedly lost control and slammed into another car waiting for the traffic light to turn green, according to witnesses and cops.

The crash caused the driver of the car in front to jolt his knees, and the occupantskids, were quite shaken and traumatized from the crash. Such accidents occur daily around New York City. An average of 620 car accidents occur daily, and over 290 deaths are reported yearly from motor vehicle traffic-related injuries among vehicle occupants.

Furthermore, New York records cases of over 6,200 vehicle occupants hospitalized due to motor vehicle traffic-related injuries and over 106,000 vehicle occupants visiting the emergency department annually due to car traffic-related injuries.

Yet, the frequency of car accidents remains ignored among New Yorkers, perhaps due to the hustling nature of the city. Arguably, the population size of the city, and the amount of congestion, make minor car accidents such as fender benders a regular and expected occurrence in daily living. However, the number of crippling accidents in the city is quite substantial and surprising.

Types of Accidents

Based on the number of car accidents in the city, it is essential to clarify the most prevalent types of car accidents found on the city streets to the highways and other New York City roads as follows:

Single-Car Accidents

By description, any accident that causes damage to only one vehicle, even if another driver causes it. If the crash involves one automobile and no one else's, it is considered a single-vehicle accident. Common incidents reveal that the driver, with or without passengers, can veer off the road because of one form of impairment, like being distracted or falling asleep. Sometimes, a single car accident can be because by falling into a pothole, dodging animals on the road,

bad weather, or sliding off the road. Besides other cars and objects, the vehicle can also hit bicyclists or pedestrians.

Rear-end Collisions

One of the most prevalent car accidents in NYC is rearended collisions which account for over 28 percent of all car accidents in the United States. It describes car incidents where the front bumper of the car behind collides with the rear end of another vehicle in its front. The loss of control, bad weather conditions, and road defects can result in a crash.

Rear-end collisions have adjudged the fault of the rear vehicle driver, even though the driver in front of the vehicle is at fault for stopping suddenly. The reason is based on the premise that the rear driver is responsible for creating adequate room for safe stopping between them and the car in front in case of an unexpected stop. The good news is that most rear-end collisions are not fatal because most drivers are not at maximum speed; only a tiny percent is disastrous.

Sideswiping Car Accidents

Side swiping happens when a driver is tired, inattentive, or falls asleep on the steering and hits another vehicle, causing an accident. Sometimes, a driver's blind spot during a lane change can cause them to crash into another car traveling in the same direction. This causes a sideswiping accident from changing lanes, especially when one driver tries to make a lane change from a blind spot; thus, it is also referred to as 'blind spot accidents. In other instances, one of the drivers can join a line

without looking carefully. Most sideswiping accidents are not fatal unless the drivers are slow to respond or traveling at high speed, which results in damaged vehicles.

Rollovers

Available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that over 15 percent of car fatalities are from rollovers. The majority (80+ percent) of rollover-related casualties occur in single-vehicle crashes.

Some factors contributing to rollover accidents include the location of the car's center of gravity, which depends on design or model. At the same time, others, like the amount of load on the vehicle, height, and environmental factors, can contribute to causing a rollover. Consistent with other car accidents, the chances of a car rolling over increases with speed, driver's impairment from alcohol, drugs, and distraction.

Side-impact Collisions

Accidents at intersections, parking lots (sometimes), and on a multi-lane roadway are typical, including when a car passes another vehicle on the road. Such accidents are popularly called T-bone collisions or broadside collisions. Upon occurrence, they are fatal and deadly from the severity of injuries — from the location of the impact on the vehicle and the passengers' seating position. A side impact collision occurs when a vehicle crashes at the side of one or more vehicles, where the front of one car strikes the side of another.

In 2016, such accidents caused over 5,500 deaths from single and multi-passenger

Some factors contributing to rollover accidents include the location of the car's center of gravity, which depends on design or model.

Whiplash and concussions are the most prevailing injuries caused by side-impact car crashes. Injuries to the limbs and chest remain as common as those sustained in rear-end or head-on collisions.

vehicle T-bone crashes. Notably, these collisions are not well managed with child restraints. Several factors, including reckless or careless behavior by any or many motorists, significantly distracted driving, intoxication, speeding, breaking traffic rules, and aggressive driving can lead to such collisions.

They can result in severe injuries, especially if the passenger or driver sits on the side of the vehicle where the impact occurs. Secondly, the lack of standardized safety installations in different care designs and models also increases the severity. Some examples of the injuries are severe concussion, whiplash — neck injury from the rapid movement of the head, broken bones — hands, fingers, ribs, legs, spinal cord injury, and lacerations.

People riding on the struck side of the car experience severe injuries on their neck, head, chest, legs, and abdomen/pelvis. Car occupants on the car's non-struck side often suffer head and chest injuries.

Whiplash and concussions are the most prevailing injuries caused by side-impact car crashes. Injuries to the limbs and chest remain as common as those sustained in rear-end or head-on collisions.

Occupants on the unstruck side of the car often suffer limb and chest injuries from another occupant's collision or the pillar anchoring the seatbelt.

Head-on Collisions

Head-on collisions often occur when two cars driving in opposite directions crash into each other. The NHTSA reports that it accounts for only

2 percent of car crashes. However, despite its rarity, it is hazardous and results in more than 11 percent of driving fatalities. They are often devastating for both parties and can result in wrongful deaths or permanent damages. Most injuries that are from head-on collisions are very severe and traumatic. These include spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Sometimes victims become permanently impaired or paralyzed, with some sustaining a loss of motor, cognitive ability, or senses.

Some of the causes of headon collisions have been linked to lack of attention to road signs, flaunting traffic signals, drug impairment, sleepiness, and unintentional lane switching. They can happen because of a mistake, such as driving on the wrong side of the road, drunk driving, distracted driving, or brake failure.

Incidentally, identifying who caused the crash is challenging since the impact may put them in altered positions. Irrespective of the type of car accident, the incident often leaves an indelible effect in the minds of those involved. Sometimes, the result has a far-reaching impact far beyond the immediate participants. In some cases, the incident can affect close family members and other dependents.

Legal Assistance

In such cases, the experienced Personal Injury Law Firm of Figeroux & Associates can interpret the laws and make a strong case that will provide some compensation for the victims, or the issue needs to be involved.

Call us at 855-768-8845 or schedule an appointment at www.askthelawyer.usp