Renee Campion, New York City’s longtime labor commissioner and a veteran of more than two decades at the agency that negotiates with the city’s municipal unions, will retire Dec. 1, City Hall announced Thursday.
Campion has led the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) since 2019 and is the first woman to serve as its commissioner. Her departure will leave Mayor Zohran Mamdani with a consequential appointment at an agency responsible for bargaining with more than 150 unions that represent city workers and administer employee health benefits.
City Hall did not immediately announce who will replace Campion, whether an interim commissioner will be named or whether the administration is considering candidates from within OLR.
Campion has spent nearly 24 years at the agency, according to her LinkedIn profile. She joined OLR as an assistant commissioner in October 2002, during the Bloomberg administration, became associate commissioner in 2010 and was elevated to first deputy commissioner in 2014. She took over as commissioner in February 2019 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and remained in the job through the Adams administration and into Mamdani’s first year in office.
Over that time, Campion has helped lead repeated rounds of contract talks between City Hall and the unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers.
“Serving the City of New York and its incredible workforce has been the honor of a lifetime,” Campion said in a statement announcing her retirement.
She thanked Mamdani and First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and said she was proud of the agency’s work on labor relations and benefits for city employees and retirees.
Mamdani praised Campion for negotiating contracts while balancing the interests of workers and taxpayers.
“Her dedication and deep commitment to public service have made our city stronger, and her contributions will be felt for years to come,” Mamdani said. “I’m grateful for her service and wish her all the best in her retirement.”
Campion’s time leading OLR included the city’s major 2023 round of collective bargaining, when the agency says it reached agreements covering 90% of the municipal workforce. She also oversaw the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic, when city officials and unions confronted major questions over workplace rules and the operation of the municipal workforce.
More recently, Campion oversaw the Jan. 1 launch of the NYCE PPO health plan for active city employees and pre-Medicare retirees.
In a 2019 interview shortly after taking over OLR, Campion described herself as a familiar figure to the unions after 17 years at the agency and said maintaining a respectful relationship with union leaders was important to her approach to bargaining
“I understand what their role is. They understand what my role is,” Campion told City & State at the time.
Leaders from several major municipal unions praised Campion’s tenure Thursday.
Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37, said Campion had negotiated with the union in good faith for more than two decades, including on wages, health care and workplace conditions.
“Throughout every difficult negotiation and budget circumstance, Renee always demonstrated respect for our union’s goal of securing our members the best possible contract,” Garrido said.
CWA Local 1180 President Gloria Middleton similarly credited Campion with maintaining an open line of communication with labor even when the two sides disagreed, while leaders representing correction officers, police lieutenants and school supervisors also praised her approach to negotiations.
Her retirement leaves Mamdani to choose the city’s next chief labor negotiator, with several long-running negotiations still unresolved. Among them are contracts covering the city’s EMTs, paramedics and EMS officers, which have been expired for more than four years. OLR said last week that negotiations with the EMS union recently resumed.
Campion is expected to remain in the position through the end of November.