York strike updates

Incidents of self-harm nearly doubled for a period last year, according to the federal monitor appointed to oversee the jail. Rates of violence have also increased, and residents have reported that the intake area where detainees are first processed is infested with vermin, and lacks beds and working toilets.

Backlogs in the courts due to the pandemic have resulted in people being locked up for longer, awaiting disposition of criminal charges. The Omicron-driven Covid surge has also hit correctional workers hard, thinning staff ranks and further endangering inmates. This means prisoners are being forced to miss important medical appointments.

Inmate Ervin Bowins said that his unit has been denied access to mail, recreation, medical and mental health services, and the law library to work on their cases. Bowins said conditions at Rikers fall short of "mandatory minimum standards for a human being. Prison abolitionists and other human rights activists have voiced solidarity with the hunger strikers, while decrying conditions at Rikers. Incidents including the suicide of Kalief Browder, a teenager previously jailed at Rikers for three years without trial for allegedly stealing a backpack, spurred former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to propose a plan to close the facility by Although approved by the City Council over two years ago, the plan has since been delayed indefinitely.

We've had enough. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. Here is what you should know about the different benefit programs that exist in New Jersey: Read More.

We all expected and hoped against hope to see a healthier new year. But, the Omicron variant, raging across the world, has quashed that vision for now. The reality is that we are once again in severe crisis. Working in the healthcare profession, many ers continued to battle the effects of COVID in their institutions throughout despite the arrival of the vaccine early in the year. After being loudly praised as heroes in , many also faced tough battles with management at the bargaining table to preserve their wages and benefits.

But as SEIU members have done for more than six decades now, they showed their strength across all our regions by standing together. We are pleased to see the Governor is making a significant commitment to invest in the current healthcare workforce, increasing the number of new workers joining the workforce, and moving them along their career pathway.

We are also glad to see industry-wide solutions, including a new portal for potential healthcare workers and others seeking training. While we await more details in the budget proposal, we do have key questions about support for vital safety net institutions that have provided lifesaving care during this pandemic and about how the need for permanent wage increases will be addressed.

The reality is that we are once again in crisis. The government had launched a commission to look into the dispute and said Monday the decision to introduce legislation comes on the heels of a report by commissioner William Kaplan, which found the parties had reached an impasse. Bills must go through three readings in the legislature before becoming law, with debates and often referral to a committee for further consideration, unless all parties agree to support the legislation and skip to what is called a unanimous consent vote.

The New Democrats said Monday they won't agree to such a vote, and said the Liberal move does nothing to help students or striking faculty.

Their bravery once again forces us to confront the humanitarian crisis at Rikers Island. It is more urgent than ever that we close Rikers Island and this important work can and should begin with the closure of the Rose M.

Singer jail for women and gender-expansive people. It's a disgrace that the conditions are so horrific the incarcerated feel their only recourse is a hunger strike. Singer facility," said Rev. The entire City is suffering at the hands of an archaic system that is morally and fiscally burdensome on our community.

A system that focuses more on inflicting trauma than helping people heal. Exodus will continue to show up in solidarity for our loved ones in City jails who are suffering. And, we will continue to call on City Officials and Judges to decarcerate and help create real and lasting change.

Decarceration is the only solution that will meaningfully address this latest crisis, and we again call on judges, District Attorneys and elected officials to take every step to free New Yorkers from local jails.

We must provide treatment and not jail for these members of our communities. Meanwhile, pre-trial diversion programs have been shown to significantly reduce future criminal activity of program participants. We stand in solidarity with them and their demands for basic needs which should already been met. Our corrections officers need to end their 'sick-out'.

It is an immoral way to air grievances and is getting people hurt. It's also one of the main jobs of a democracy. Rikers has been a debacle under the previous administration, and I can only hope that the Adams administration can finally get their arms around the many layers of problems there. New York City Council Member Carmen De La Rosa District 10 said, "Today I stand in solidarity with incarcerated people who are on hunger strike in Rikers Island as an act of defiance against a racist system that extracts Black and Brown people from our communities each day.