Liz Vladeck appointed next head of Office of Labor Relations

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed veteran labor lawyer Liz Vladeck as the next Commissioner of the Office of Labor Relations following current OLR Commissioner Renee Campion’s retirement Dec. 1, City Hall officials said Friday. Currently the Chief Legal Counsel and General Counsel of the city’s Department of Education and an Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at New York Law School, Vladeck also represented private-sector unions for 15 years.  

“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue serving the city and its employees, and it is with deep respect for our workforce that I approach being a steward of the city’s labor relations,” Vladeck said in a statement. “I want to thank Mayor Mamdani for the faith he has placed in me. I am excited to work on behalf of this Administration and with our city unions on issues that are vital to the workforce and city residents, as well as advance a broad economic justice agenda for all New Yorkers.”  

The Chief exclusively reported in August that Campion would be stepping down Dec. 1 after seven years running OLR. 

“Liz Vladeck has dedicated her career to fighting for workers, and she will bring that commitment to the Office of Labor Relations,” Mamdani said in a statement. “Public servants keep our city running and they deserve respect, support, and a City government that takes its responsibilities to them seriously. I look forward to looking closely with Liz and our city’s unions to deliver real results for New Yorkers across the five boroughs." 

According to her LinkedIn page, Vladeck got her start as a campaign director for an independent Russian dockworkers’ union in Kalingrad, Russia in 2005 before becoming organizing director of a food workers’ union in Moscow and Kyiv, Ukraine. She then served as associate general counsel for Workers United, part of the Service Employees International Union, followed by a stint as an in-house lawyer at the Strategic Organizing Center.

After that, Vladeck spent four years representing unions in the city as a labor lawyer at Cary Kane LLP, a firm that represents unions in both the private and public sector.

Liz Vladeck, right, with Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen.

The Chief/Michel Friang

Her first role with the city was with the Department of Consumer of Worker Protection where she served as the first-ever Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Labor Policy & Standards under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. She then was brought into City Hall directly, serving as a senior labor policy advisor for de Blasio. 

"From her years in public service to her work representing union members, including at CWA, Liz has a proven record of fighting for working people," Dennis Trainor, vice president of Communications Workers of America District 1, said in a statement. "We are confident she will bargain in good faith and ensure workers’ voices are heard throughout City Hall."

Vladeck will fill the role that Campion has held for the last seven years. She will be the second woman to run the agency, and her appointment comes at a crucial time for municipal unions in New York as negotiations for the next round of collective bargaining agreements will likely begin later this year.

"I have known Liz for several years and have appreciated her ability to balance fiscal concerns with an understanding and appreciation for the men and women who work to make New York the greatest city on earth," Bob Linn, a former OLR commissioner, said in a statement. "I know she will deliver meaningful results for New Yorkers in her new role."