Worker Safety News

Purple sticker with Hot Head Grabba icon of a cartoon face smoking with pink eyes. "clean" "organic" "Bussin" Sold here

Labor

‘Finally There Is Justice:’ Former Tobacco Sweatshop Workers Relieved Over Wage Theft Indictment

June 6, 2025, 1:27 p.m.June 6, 2025, 3:07 p.m.

Workers overcome with emotion as they learn their former bosses were charged with more than $310,000 in wage theft and more.

A construction worker heads back into a Midtown site.

Worker Safety

Thirty NYC Construction Workers Died in 2023 — the Most in a Decade of Tracking

March 4, 2025, 4:55 a.m.March 4, 2025, 10:28 a.m.

On-the-job deaths climbed for the third year in a row, according to an annual report from a worker-safety group, raising alarms as city and federal watchdogs lose teeth.

Worker Safety

Transit Workers Say MTA Too Slow to Protect Subway Cabs

Dec. 9, 2024, 5:00 a.m.Dec. 9, 2024, 8:46 a.m.

Following alarming break-ins and attacks on conductors and operators, agency heads promised action at the beginning of the year — but there’s little to show for it.

A person wearing a "USA" hat walk in front of 26 Federal Plaza.

Health

Legionnaires’ Disease Reported at Manhattan Federal Building

Sept. 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m.Sept. 27, 2024, 6:52 p.m.

Tenants of 26 Federal Plaza were alerted earlier this month that water testing in the building had found Legionella bacteria in kitchens, locker room showers, drinking fountains and daycare sinks.

A worker shows how swollen his hands would get after long shifts packing thousands of tubes of loose HotHead Grabba tobacco.

Labor

Federal Safety Inspectors Hit Immigrant Tobacco Sweatshops With Hazard Fines

Sept. 20, 2024, 5:00 a.m.Sept. 20, 2024, 2:19 p.m.

The Occupational Health and Safety istration cited HotHead Grabba for nearly two dozen workplace safety violations in Brooklyn and Queens.

Amazon warehouse on 578 Cozine Avenue has five trees equally spaced along the block below a timing of amazon signature blue.

Brooklyn

Worker Injured at Amazon Construction Site With Fake Safety Logs Gets $25 Million Settlement

Aug. 29, 2024, 5:00 a.m.Aug. 28, 2024, 9:35 p.m.

After a construction worker fell through the roof during renovation of a Brooklyn warehouse, a contractor filed logs with signatures of a site safety supervisor who says they were forged.

Work

New York Urges Employers to Help Workers Through Extreme Heat

Aug. 12, 2024, 1:24 p.m.Dec. 19, 2024, 1:42 p.m.

Following reporting by THE CITY showing injuries are more likely at high temperatures, new guidance from the state Department of Labor recommends hydration, paid rest time, sunscreen and more.

A Harlem market s selling HotHead Grabba.

Worker Safety

Potentially Combustible Dust Probed by Federal Inspectors at Queens HotHead Grabba Factory

July 22, 2024, 4:59 a.m.July 21, 2024, 12:30 p.m.

Workers lodged wage theft and workplace safety complaints after processing tobacco for a fraction of the minimum wage.

Labor

Migrant Men Allege ‘Grabba’ Sweatshop Stole Their Earnings in New Complaint

April 23, 2024, 5:01 a.m.April 22, 2024, 6:23 p.m.

Weeks after THE CITY exposed a Brooklyn sweatshop where women say they got sick processing tobacco sold in local smoke shops, two former workers at a Queens HotHead Grabba factory filed wage theft complaints with the state.

A mural at the Flatbush Avenue station honors train operator Garett Goble.

Public Safety

For Family of Train Operator Killed in Arson, Riding Subway Still Scary Four Years Later

March 22, 2024, 4:55 a.m.April 3, 2024, 7:26 p.m.

When a subway conductor was slashed in the neck last month at a Brooklyn station, Delilah Goble said she broke down in tears. The widow of Garrett Goble — the subway motorman killed in a March 27, 2020 fire that authorities say was ignited intentionally on a train — knows all too well the dangers […]

Worker Safety

‘Finally There Is Justice:’ Former Tobacco Sweatshop Workers Relieved Over Wage Theft Indictment

Thirty NYC Construction Workers Died in 2023 — the Most in a Decade of Tracking

Transit Workers Say MTA Too Slow to Protect Subway Cabs

Legionnaires’ Disease Reported at Manhattan Federal Building

Federal Safety Inspectors Hit Immigrant Tobacco Sweatshops With Hazard Fines

Worker Injured at Amazon Construction Site With Fake Safety Logs Gets $25 Million Settlement

New York Urges Employers to Help Workers Through Extreme Heat

Potentially Combustible Dust Probed by Federal Inspectors at Queens HotHead Grabba Factory

Migrant Men Allege ‘Grabba’ Sweatshop Stole Their Earnings in New Complaint

For Family of Train Operator Killed in Arson, Riding Subway Still Scary Four Years Later

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