'Absolutely epic' — union leaders hail Mamdani's victory

With Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor all but certain, unions and labor leaders are taking stock of what to many marks a repudiation of establishment candidates, not least among them Andrew Cuomo, and even a long-awaited makeover of the party. 

Most of the city unions that traditionally support Democrats endorsed the former governor. But a few – spurred by rank-and-file mobilization – backed the longshot candidate, and they too are taking a victory lap.

The labor leader most enthusiastic about Mamdani’s win was the one whose membership bet on him earliest. Brandon Mancilla, the director of United Auto Workers Region 9A, said Wednesday morning that the union is "super proud to have seen the potential of the Zohran campaign from the very beginning and our members have been super excited from the beginning.” 

The UAW was the first union to endorse Mamdani; its Community Action Program Council unanimously ranked him as part of a slate of three candidates in December when the assemblyman was largely unknown and polling at 1 percent. Hundreds of UAW members fanned out across the city in the months that followed as a small part of the legion of what according to the campaign was 36,000 volunteers who canvassed and lobbied their neighbors to support Mamdani, a fixture at UAW picket lines.  

Many of Mamdani's volunteers are, like the assemblyman, members of the Democratic Socialists of America. DSA devotees are an ever-present force at picket lines across the city and the organization includes young workers from a variety of unions, including the UAW.

The union’s members also participated in campaign videos promoting Mamdani. The union also hammered Cuomo at press conferences. “It means that for the first time our members will really have a mayor who supports workers,” Mancilla said of Mamdani's victory. “He’s going to bring a level of support that working people will feel like they've never had before." 

The UAW eventually updated their ranking in late May to encourage members to rank Mamdani first on their ranked-choice ballots and the union's international president, Shawn Fain, threw his support behind the assemblyman days before the June 24 election. 

“We were the first union to endorse Zohran because it’s time for a political movement that puts working class people first,” Fain said in a video message to members the day after the vote. “Congratulations to the working class of New York City for showing the world that when we unite and stand up, nobody can stand in our way.” 

Another international union president also came out in support of Mamdani following the election. John Samuelsen, who heads the Transport Workers Union, hailed Mamdani’s win as “absolutely epic.” 

“This is an absolute repudiation of establishment Democrats,” he told The Chief on Wednesday. “It's a validation of candidates who are laser focused on affordability for working people.” 

But Samuelsen declined to say if the union would endorse Mamdani ahead of the November general election, noting that Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, has helped keep his members safe. 

TWU didn’t endorse in the mayoral primary, but Samuelsen did speak at a raucous rally of 4,000 Mamdani supporters at the Terminal 5 music venue just ahead of early voting, where he endorsed Mamdani's plan to eliminate bus fares, one of his central policy planks. 

While Mamdani has said his free-fare proposal is designed to make the city more affordable, eliminating the fares would also significantly reduce assaults on bus operators, according to figures from the MTA.

DC37 stands alone 

Mamdani on Primary Day.

Zohran For NYC

The only large establishment union to throw its support behind Mamdani was District Council 37, the city’s largest public-sector union, which ranked him second behind City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. The union included Mamdani on its endorsement slate following a concerted campaign from DC 37’s rank-and-file, who implored the union’s leaders not to rank Cuomo and to include Mamdani.  

“Zohran Mamdani’s win is a victory for all working-class New Yorkers and we’re proud that DC 37 was one of the first unions to support his candidacy,” DC 37’s executive director, Henry Garrido, said in a statement. "His hard-fought campaign engaged a new generation of voters who are confronting a reality we know too well: the crisis of affordability and accessibility in the city we call home.” 

To the frustration of some activist members who supported Mamdani, much of DC 37’s election outreach focused on supporting Speaker Adams, who garnered just under 5 percent of the first-round primary vote.  

But the union showed up for Mamdani in other ways. DC 37's president, Shaun Francois, who heads Board of Education Employees Local 372, spoke in support of Mamdani at a campaign rally inside of a Brooklyn concert venue in May, and Maf Misbah Uddin, the union’s treasurer, spoke enthusiastically in support of Mamdani at the same rally as Samuelsen. He was also a presence at rallies for the candidate with South Asian labor leaders.  

“This shows that the power of the rank-and-file movement in New York City is growing stronger by the day,” Jack Lundquist, a member of Local 375 who helped lead the push to get DC 37 to endorse Mamdani, said of the victory.  "A new day is dawning for the public sector union movement." 

Establishment moves to Mamdani

On Friday the Hotel Gaming and Trades Council and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union — both unions that endorsed Cuomo in the primary election and Mayor Adams in 2021 - put their support behind Mamdani for the general election.

"Zohran Mamdani has united and inspired New Yorkers around a positive and optimistic vision for a truly affordable city," Local 32BJ's president Manny Pastreich said in a statement. "He is ready and equipped to fight for our city and has made clear he is ready to stand up to attacks from the Trump administration. New York’s janitors, airport workers, residential building service workers, security officers, school custodians and window cleaners are ready to join Zohran in the effort to achieve that vision and do the work it takes to get there."

The New York State Nurses Association, which did not endorse in the primary, also endorsed Mamdani on Friday. The New York Central Labor Committee, a coalition of more than 300 unions representing over one million workers, endorsed Mamdani on Monday. 

A spokesperson for SEIU Local 1199 said that members would decide how to move forward with the endorsement for the general election.

Local 1199 endorsed Cuomo when George Gresham was still president of the union. He has since been voted out following a litany of corruption allegations and around 500 members signed a petition calling on the union to retract its endorsement in the lead up to the primary election. 

In what might be a relief for the unions that endorsed Cuomo, Mamdani struck a note of unity in his victory speech early Wednesday morning. "I will be the mayor for every New Yorker, whether you voted for me, for Governor Cuomo or felt too disillusioned by a long-broken political system to vote at all," he said. "I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you, that is safe for you. I will work to be a mayor you will be proud to call your own."

Despite endorsing Cuomo, Anthony Almojera, the vice president of the city EMS officers union, said he was open to sitting down with Mamdani and learning about his vision for the city. “We have to be able to work with whoever is the eventual mayor,” he said. "He seems to be willing to help the working class."  

JP Patafio, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 vice president representing bus drivers, said Mamdani’s win is “great for labor and great for the working class." His experience working with the assemblyman on the original free bus pilot in 2023 showed Patafio that Mamdani is “someone who has the ability to bring people together,”  

At the same time, he encouraged fellow labor leaders to endorse the Democratic nominee quickly. "It's a shame people got behind Cuomo,” Patafio said. “Labor needs to take a good look and get behind this guy 100 percent." 

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com