(NEW YORK CITY) – In his New Years Day inaugural address delivered on the steps of City Hall, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared he would “return the vast resources of this City to the Workers who call it home.”
In the past three weeks since he made those remarks, Mamdani has made a series of appointments and moves that, Union Leaders say, have followed through on that promise.
That includes, even before Mamdani was sworn in, the appointment of former President Joe Biden’s Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to a novel position, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice.
Paul Sonn, State Policy Program Director at the National Employment Law Project – a progressive Economic Think Tank, argued that, on top of his appointments, Mamdani made his priorities clear when he joined striking New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Nurses on the picket line and cracking down on Delivery Apps who were stealing tips from their Workers.
“It’s exciting how quickly he’s moving,” Sonn said. “He’s focusing on how Workers, consumers and small businesses are all suffering and in many cases being ripped off by massive corporations.”
Two days before he appointed Su, Mamdani announced American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 37’s former Political Director, Jahmila Edwards, would become his Director of Government Affairs.
District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido, who worked with Edwards for years, said these early appointments were an “extremely positive sign” of Mamdani’s approach to Workers in the City.
Garrido has become a close ally of Mamdani since the Union ranked the former Assembly Member on its endorsement slate in the Democratic Party Primary for Mayor.
“Having people who are Labor-minded in the Administration is always helpful,” the Union Leader said. “These are people you don’t have to have a conversation about the meaning of Labor and the contributions they have made because they know, they’ve lived them.”
Mamdani’s other Labor-minded moves include the appointment of Ramzi Kassem, a Professor of Law at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and a Member of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY, as the City’s Chief Counsel.
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