LAT: “You Can’t Pick Strawberries Over Zoom” and NYT: Undocumented Become “Essential Workers”

By America’s Voice

LAT: “You Can’t Pick Strawberries Over Zoom” and NYT: Undocumented Become “Essential Workers”

Public health experts are clear that all of us in America need to come together and support each other at this time. All of us means all of us. Across many industries and many sectors, often overlooked workers from all walks of life are becoming the frontline heroes of the pandemic. Immigrants — documented and […]

Grenadian Dr. Roy A. Hastick, Sr. Passes

By Mary Campbell

Grenadian Dr. Roy A. Hastick, Sr. Passes

Grenadian Dr. Roy A. Hastick, Sr, who founded the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACCI), died on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in a New York Hospital. Hastick passed away from complications of the deadly virus, COVID-19. Hastick, who is from the parish of St David, migrated to the United States in 1972 and […]

Out Of Work? How To Navigate Unemployment Benefits In The Coronavirus Crisis

Out Of Work? How To Navigate Unemployment Benefits In The Coronavirus Crisis

By Allison Dikanovic, Lauren Costantino and Danny Laplaza Additional Reporting By Josefa Velasquez, THE CITY More than 16 million Americans have suddenly found themselves unemployed, thanks to the upheaval wrought by the coronavirus outbreak. In the last week of March alone, the New York State Department of Labor received 8.2 million calls — a 16,000% increase compared to its typical week. The department’s online portal […]

A Brooklyn courthouse was still packed as coronavirus spread. Judges, their staffs and lawyers are paying the price.

A Brooklyn courthouse was still packed as coronavirus spread. Judges, their staffs and lawyers are paying the price.

There was no social distancing as lawyers waited the session to begin March 12 before Judge Johnny Lee Baynes in Brooklyn Supreme Court. (Photo: NY Daily News) By Noah Goldberg, NY Daily News Dozens of lawyers, court officers and clerks crowded onto the wooden benches in Judge Johnny Lee Baynes’ courtroom on March 12 as […]

EMS members brace for COVID-19 peak, Bronx Zoo converts to staging area

EMS members brace for COVID-19 peak, Bronx Zoo converts to staging area

By News 12 The Bronx Medical experts say this could be the toughest week since the coronavirus crisis began, and medical technicians and paramedics are bracing for the impact.  More than 4,000 members of the city’s Emergency Medical Services are preparing for what’s to come as the peak of the coronavirus draws near.  Like hospital workers and […]

‘I’m very, very worried’: Laid-off workers struggle with no social safety net

‘I’m very, very worried’: Laid-off workers struggle with no social safety net

By Maeve Reston, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) – For more than a year on the campaign trail, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic presidential contenders spoke at nearly every event about the number of families in America who were living at the precipice, one paycheck away from losing everything — even as the economy was booming. Now […]

Grocery workers are key during the virus. And they’re afraid

Grocery workers are key during the virus. And they’re afraid

By Associated Press (AP) — Grocery workers across the globe are working the frontlines during lockdowns meant to keep the coronavirus from spreading. Their stores are deemed essential, and their work puts them close to the public and therefore at risk. Often in low-wage jobs, the workers have earned praise from Pope Francis and former […]

A tale of two agencies: NYC transit workers to receive nearly 250,000 N95 masks to protect against coronavirus; correction officers still fighting for PPE

A tale of two agencies: NYC transit workers to receive nearly 250,000 N95 masks to protect against coronavirus; correction officers still fighting for PPE

By Thomas Tracy and Larry McShane, NY Daily News As transit union workers cheered the arrival of 250,000 N95 masks Saturday, angry corrections workers remained at war with the city over access to the same protective gear. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority quickly began distributing the in-demand protective masks to safeguard transit workers from the coronavirus, […]