(Photo: Getty)

“When it comes to fighting to make sure hard working New Yorkers have good paying jobs and access to quality healthcare, Scott has been in the corner of working families throughout his career," George Gresham, the union's president, said in a statement. “It is why we enthusiastically support him as the next New York City Comptroller.”

Although current Comptroller John Liu has yet to announce his electoral intentions, he is widely expected to run for mayor next year, leaving a vacant seat behind him. Normally, wide-open contests attract a plethora of candidates, but Mr. Stringer managed to muscle his main opponents out of the race. As establishment support coalesces around Mr. Stringer, the window for new potential rivals to emerge has been closing quickly.

A poll tested former Congressman Anthony Weiner's name for the race last month, but Mr. Weiner himself has given no hints that he's actually considering a run. Other than that one trial balloon, not even a third-tier contender has publicly mulled challenging the front-runner.

Per the Stringer campaign, here are his endorsements thus far:

UFT
CWA District 1
RWDSU
UFCW Local 1500
1199SEIU
32BJ
Uniformed Fire Officers Assoc.
UAW
Mason Tenders
Local 802
NYS Ironworkers
Teamsters
Hotel Trades
Building Trades
WFP
NYC Central Labor Council
Painters
Plumbers Local 1
COBA

Former Mayor Ed Koch
Former Comptroller Bill Thompson
Former Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin
Former Comptroller Liz Holtzman
Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio
Speaker Christine Quinn
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz

Congressmember Jerry Nadler
Congressmember Carolyn Maloney
Congressmember Nydia Velazquez
Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries
Congressmember Yvette Clarke

Senator Daniel Squadron
Senator Eric Adams
Senator Kevin Parker

Assemblyman Micah Kellner
Assemblyman Bill Colton
Assemblyman Jim Brennan
Assemblyman Karim Camara
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz
Assemblyman Dov Hikind
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz
Assemblyman Walter Mosely
Assemblyman Nick Perry
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol
Assemblyman Peter Abbate
Assemblyman Alan Maisel
Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny
Assemblywoman Joan Millman

Councilmember Dan Garodnick
Councilmember Jessica Lappin
Councilmember Brad Lander
Councilmember Stephen Levin
Councilmember Domenic Recchia
Councilmember Letitia James
Councilmember Jumaane Williams
Councilmember Vincent Gentile
Councilmember Diana Reyna

Councilman Robert Jackson (Photo: Facebook)

"For more than 30 years, Robert Jackson has fought for New York City's public school children and has been their champion and advocate," Mr. Mulgrew said. "He understands personally the power of education and has fought to make sure every child has the chance for the best education possible."

In his statement, Mr. Mulgrew specifically cited a 1993 lawsuit Mr. Jackson participated in arguing the state's methods for allocating public education funds did not adequately provide for New York City children. Mr. Jackson, who was a public school parent at the time, walked the 150 miles from the five boroughs to Albany to spotlight the case.

"From suing the state and walking 150 miles to Albany to fix a school aid formula that was cheating our public school children to standing up against unfair school closures and budget cuts, Robert Jackson has fought tirelessly for our children, their parents and the entire school community," said Mr. Mulgrew. "He knows how to get things done and has a record to prove it. Robert has worked hard for everything he has achieved. He is a leader we can trust, who will stand on principle, bring people together and be a great Borough President of Manhattan."

Mr. Jackson, who is prevented by term limits from keeping his Council seat, is facing a crowded field in his bid for the Manhattan borough presidency. Former community board chair Julie Menin and Councilwoman Jessica Lappin are both in the race. Last year, Councilwoman Gale Brewer also said she would be running for borough president, but she has not officially launched a campaign. The current borough president, Scott Stringer, is running for comptroller. Though Mr. Jackson has lagged behind some of his rivals in terms of fundraising, his campaign sees the endorsement of the influential, 200,000-member-strong UFT as a sign of major progress.

"My campaign is getting a great reception every place we go. This is a major endorsement and another sign of the momentum we are feeling as we build a large and diverse grassroots campaign that is moving this campaign forward," Mr. Jackson said in a statement on the endorsement. "I look forward to working with the UFT to win this campaign. Together, we can make a difference for families today, and for generations to come."

(Photo: Getty)

On his weekly radio show this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg discussed the city's ongoing bus driver strike and waxed philosophical about the nature of public employee unions. And, while explaining the inherent challenges in cutting certain government services, the mayor made sure to extend empathic concern to those on the opposite side of the negotiating table.

"Municipal unions have always had great support from the legislators, whether they are city, state or even federal unions," Mr. Bloomberg said. "You see the post office--which loses a fortune--they can't cut back the number of post offices and workers. [This is] partially because every town wants to keep their post office, but partially because there are a lot of jobs involved. I'm sympathetic to people who want to keep their jobs."

On the particular subject of the bus driver strike, Mr. Bloomberg said the conflict wasn't about the drivers' skills or importance, but rather a matter of what New York City should pay in exchange.

"The question is, when it comes, for example, to the bus strike," he continued. "People keep ... saying, 'Look, these people aren't making a lot of money.' That's true. 'They work hard.' Some of that's true. 'They're valuable.' Yes. 'Well-trained.' Yes, but my job is not to try to maintain their jobs and their pay scale. That's the union's job or their personal responsibility. My job is to get the services the city needs for the least amount of money."

Mr. Bloomberg argued that even those who disagree with him do not want to pay the taxes necessary for expansive government contracts.

"The public does not want to pay any more taxes," he said. "Even on the left, where they are more interested in maintaining entitlements and services, they don't want to pay any more taxes either."

Cablevision logo. (Photo: Wikimedia)

Last night, members of the Communications Workers of America Union distributed flyers calling Cablevision CEO James Dolan an "Ebenezer Scrooge" outside the annual holiday fundraiser for the Lustgarten Foundation, a pancreatic cancer charity supported by the company. Cablevision released a statement about the situation this afternoon calling the union's activities at the event "shameful" and accusing CWA of numerous other misdeeds.

"This benefit was about curing pancreatic cancer. For the CWA union to interfere with this important effort is a new low for a union that has already tried to exploit Hurricane Sandy, intimidate employees and mislead other unions," the statement said. "It is deeply offensive to not only Cablevision employees and customers, but also to cancer sufferers and their families.”

CWA and Cablevision have been locked into an ongoing dispute for the past year as the union attempts to organize workers at the television company. Cablevision accused the union of exploiting the hurricane because it has loudly criticized the company for not automatically refunding customers who lost television service during the storm.

In addition to disrupting the fundraiser and "exploiting" the hurricane, Cablevision's statement accused the union of having "intimidated Cablevision employees." Politicker asked the union about the various charges leveled by Cablevision and they provided us a statement denying they tried to disrupt the event.

"CWA fully supports the Lustgarten Foundation's work, and we never attempted to 'disrupt' the event," the statement said. "CWA applauds Cablevision for supporting a Cancer charity, as our flyer last night made clear. Dolan should spend more time bargaining with his employees and improving internet speeds rather than make the outrageous claim that CWA doesn't support cancer research."

The union also doubled down on their criticism of Cablevision's conduct following the hurricane.

"Cablevision is desperate to distract from the indisputable fact that while other companies like Time Warner were offering automatic full refunds to Hurricane Sandy victims, Cablevision is forcing people who may have lost their home to contact them to ask for a refund," the statement said. "Cablevision does not want the public to notice that it is jacking up cable rates on customers, providing lower-quality service across Brooklyn, and punishing hard working employees by witholding pay raises and intimidating union supporters."

Despite the union's protest, Cablevision said the cancer fundraiser was a success.

"Despite the CWA union’s efforts to derail the event, a record-breaking $1.75 million was raised to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, a deadly disease that will take the lives of 37,000 people this year alone," Cablevision's statement said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Photo: Getty)

Though the bluster of the Chicago teacher strike calmed down last week, the tensions between teacher’s unions and prominent mayors have not ceased. For his part, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is siding with his Second City counterpart, Rahm Emanuel, who pushed for changes to Chicago's public school system despite opposition from the local teacher's unions. Mr. Bloomberg discussed the situation this morning at NBC’s third annual Education Nation Summit at the Bartos Forum of the New York Public Library.

“I think Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, was quite right to move towards a longer school day,” he said. “I also think Rahm was right in pushing towards evaluations as a reform that the Obama administration made as part of Race to the Top.”

Mr. Bloomberg noted that, as in Chicago, the teacher’s union in New York had not signed off on teacher evaluations. However, he pointed to the Race to the Top funding that requires evaluations as reason for the City's educators to change their tune.

“If the teachers do not meet with the city on an evaluation system we stand to lose a half a billion dollars in state and federal funding and I think it would be a catastrophe for our students if that happens,” said Mr. Bloomberg.

The summit, which continues tomorrow and will feature an address by Barack Obama and an interview with Mitt Romney, brought in speakers to discuss education reform, such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

At the end of his address, Mr. Bloomberg, a strong proponent of charter schools, summed up his hopes for the summit.

“We have to make sure that our school systems are run for the students and not run for the people working. No business that doesn’t focus on its customers and getting more for them survives," he said. "Education, I don’t want to think of it just as a business, but in terms of management, from an objective point of view, it's exactly the same.”

Mr. Bloomberg also used the summit to announce two new education initiatives focusing on pre-K, expanding access to pre-K enrollment by 4,000 spots and opening an Educare charter school.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's office is not impressed with James O'Keefe's latest hidden camera video. Mr. O'Keefe, a controversial conservative activist, posed as an executive with a do-nothing company in the clip and met with a pair of union officials in New York asking whether they could use their political connections to help him secure environmental grants for simply digging and re-filling holes in the dirt. The men Mr. O'Keefe spoke to, John Hutchings of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, former assemblyman Ronald Tocci and Mr. Tocci's brother, Anthony Tocci, describe how they have lobbyists who help them "push our agenda through." They specifically name several elected officials they claim are friendly to them; Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressmen Eliot Engel and Jerry Nadler and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Mr. Silver's spokesman, Michael Whyland, told us Mr. O'Keefe's video shouldn't be treated as serious journalism.

"This is not reporting. This is not journalism. It doesn’t even rise to the level of a comic strip. This is the kind of stuff that gives honest reporters a bad name," Mr. Whyland said.

In the clip, Mr. Hutchings boasts about his ability to get things done in Albany.

“When we go for a bill, you know, you’ve got to get approval of the Senate, and the Assembly and then the Governor’s got to sign that. We have a lobbyist for the Senate [Republicans], and we have a lobbyist for the Democrats and that’s how we try to push our agenda through,” Mr. Hutchings says in the video.

Though he says he has a lobbyist who "takes care of" Mr. Silver's colleagues in the Assembly, he claims the Speaker approves funding, but doesn't get involved in the details of the projects that receive grants.

“Shelly Silver wouldn’t say specifically, ‘Fill the dirt there.’ He would have to approve a grant to do that type of stuff, then we’d have to find places where to dig,” Mr. Hutchings says. “He doesn’t want to get involved in picking, that’s where they get into trouble.”

Mr. O'Keefe became famous after his investigation into ACORN that resulted in organization losing federal funding. He has also targeted Planned Parenthood and NPR, among others. Mr. O'Keefe's videos have been criticized by those who say he uses manipulative editing techniques in the partisan ambush attacks. In 2010, he was arrested and accused of trying to hack into the phone lines in the office of Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.

James O'Keefe posing as a government contractor in his new video. (Photo: YouTube)

The latest video from controversial conservative provocateur James O'Keefe's "Project Veritas" implies unions and several big name New York politicians are colluding to earn state and federal contracts for do-nothing companies purporting to hire for so-called "environmental jobs."

In the clip, Mr. O'Keefe portrays an executive for a business that literally digs ditches and fills them back up with more dirt. He visits with John Hutchings, whom he describes as a "director" of the Laborers' International Union of North America, and former assemblyman Ronald Tocci and another man who apparently discuss how easy it is for them to use their lobbyists and political connections to get cash for businesses.

"When we go for a bill, you know, you've got to get approval of the Senate, and the Assembly and then the Governor's got to sign that. We have a lobbyist for the Senate [Republicans], and we have a lobbyist for the Democrats and that's how we try to push our agenda through," Mr. Hutchings says in the video. 

Mr. Hutchings specifically mentions Tom McMahon, Tom Harnet, who he says "usually takes care of" the Democrats in the Assembly and Powers & Company, who "take care of the Senate."

Mr. O'Keefe's is best known for releasing videos targeting ACORN that resulted in organization losing federal funding. His partisan ambush attack films have been criticized by his detractors and in 2010 he was arrested and accused of trying to hack into the phone lines in the office of Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.

In this clip, which has been heavily edited and features the pop hit "Call Me Maybe," Mr. O'Keefe and an accomplice painstakingly tell Mr. Hutchings their company does nothing but dig and re-fill ditches.

"You really have to dress up what we do, 'cause all we do is dig holes," Mr. O'Keefe says.

He goes on to ask if Mr. Hutchings knows "political office holders in New York... who can help us find those--basically excuses to get public funds."

Mr. Hutchings says New York's two senators will give them a friendly reception.

"We're good with Gillibrand and Schumer," Mr. Hutchings says.

Mr. Tocci suggests his former Assembly "colleagues" Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Eliot Engel.

"It's awful hard for anybody to vote against, like, a jobs bill right now," says Mr. Hutchings.

According to Mr. Hutchings, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver won't involved himself in picking the recipients of grants, but he does approve them.

"Shelly Silver wouldn't say specifically, 'Fill the dirt there.' He would have to approve a grant to do that type of stuff, then we'd have to find places where to dig," Mr. Hutchings says. "He doesn't want to get involved in picking, that's where they get into trouble."

Mr. Hutchings is dismissive of the Green Jobs, Green New York program as well as the NYSERDA grant system, but thinks there's a positive aspect as long as people are being hired.

"You know, the Green Jobs Green New York, between us, a lot of it's bullshit," Mr. Hutchings says. "Even if it's bullshit, I think as long as people are working that's not bullshit."

Watch Mr. O'Keefe's edited nearly nine minute version of the video below. He also posted nearly one hour of "raw footage" here.

Christine Quinn making her exit from the living wage rally. (Photo: Colin Campbell)

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn won't tolerate anyone messing with Mayor Bloomberg and Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, doesn't want messing with Ms. Quinn for angrily leaving this morning's rally celebrating the upcoming vote to pass the living wage bill after someone mocked the mayor.

Ms. Quinn made her exit from morning's rally on the City Hall steps when someone shouted a crack about "Pharaoh Bloomberg." Mr. Appelbaum, who was in attendance at the awkward rally, leapt to the Speaker's defense this afternoon with a press release reminding people of her role in getting the living wage bill vote passed in the first place.

"Make no mistake, there would be no living wage law bill without the Speaker," Mr. Appelbaum said. "Even though Chris may have left the rally after declaring her support for the bill, the most important thing for us to remember is that thousands of new Yorkers will receive higher wages because she had the courage to stand up and pass the living wage law."

Mr. Appelbaum has backed of the living wage bill. The bill is a rare point of contention between Ms. Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, with whom she normally enjoys a rather cozy relationship.

Ms. Quinn made her break from the living wage rally after she listed off the long roster of polticial figures who were present at the event.

"Everybody but Pharoah Bloomberg!" the man shouted.

Ms. Quinn spun around and addressed the heckler.

"That’s not appropriate," she said. "If that’s what this protest is about, I’ll go right back on inside.”

And go inside she did. Ms. Quinn may disagree with Mr. Bloomberg about living wage, she clearly has no tolerance for people disrespecting the mayor--and that's all right by Mr. Appelbaum, who regularly weighs in on a variety of issues. No other city union has responded to the pharaoh flap. We're not holding our breath.

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen. (Photo: YouTube)

The Transit Workers Union Local 100 is holding a daylong "reclaim public transit" event tomorrow in conjunction with Occupy Wall Street and the Working Families Party, against the backdrop of their protracted contract negotiationswith the Metropolitan Transit Authority. According to the statement announcing the event, it is designed to "highlight funding and infrastructure needs of public transportation across the nation" and "raise awareness about how public transit supports good jobs, sustainable communities, a greener environment and reduced consumption of oil." Tomorrow's event will include a pair of press conferences as well as leafleting and petitions calling on the MTA to "reoccupy" underutilized buildings in Downtown Brooklyn in order to cut costs.

TWU Local 100 remains engaged in protracted contract negotiations with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Technically, the union's contract expired in January, but both sides agreed to continue talks past the deadline. Last time Local 100's contract expired in 2005, the union went on a strike that cost them millions of dollars due to penalties imposed under the Taylor Law, which bars New York's public employees from going on strike.

Occupy Wall Street is planning a general strike on May 1, but the occupiers have reportedly had trouble convincing unions to join them. Late last month, occupiers took responsibility for chaining open gates at several subway stations and posting flyers advertising the general strike and "free entry." Though Occupy Wall Street claimed workers from Local 100 cooperated with the free ride protest, the union denied any involvement.

Mayor Bloomberg (Photo: Getty)

After a group of unions angry over the passage of the Tier VI pension reform plan pulled support from the Somos El Futuro's annual Legislative Conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the organization a pair of hefty donations.

"We think the unions' actions are unfortunate, and don't want the conference to suffer as a result. We both support the Somos El Futuro Conference and, as such, we will be donating $72,000 to Somos El Futuro and the scholarship to make up for the donations that the unions withdrew," the mayor and governor said in a joint statement.

Unions including the United Federation of Teachers and the New York State United Teachers announced they were pulling support from the conference Tuesday.

"The elected officials who are aranging the Somos festival this year all voted on Tier VI for the union pensions and voted for one of the worst redistricting plans I've ever seen," UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Daily News' Celeste Katz about the reasons behind the withdrawal.

Though hugely unpopular with unions, pension reform was top priority for Governor Cuomo in his agenda for 2012. Mayor Bloomberg was a strong backer of the proposal. The joint statement from the mayor and governor noted Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, chairman of the Legislature's Puerto Rican & Hispanic Task Force, "was instrumental" in securing the donation for Somos.