Labor for Zohran broadens support for Mamdani among city workers

Hot Girls for Zohran, Latinos for Zohran, Gays for Zohran and Service Workers for Zohran are just some of the many grassroots affinity groups created earlier this year to support Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani's bid to become the Democratic Party nominee for New York City mayor. 

And Mamdani’s decisive upset victory in that late-June contest inspired the creation of many more such groups, one of which seeks to coalesce support among the rank and file, staff and leadership of the city’s organized labor.  

Labor for Zohran was created by J.P Patafio, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 official, in the days after the primary as a way to unite people invested in promoting Mamdani’s candidacy and policies across unions. Patafio, the vice president of the local’s Transit Authority Surface department, which represents bus drivers, said he was inspired by the Labor for Bernie group that supported Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign to be the 2020 Democratic nominee for president. 

“It’s exciting to have someone as committed as him to helping working class people,” Patafio said of Mamdani. “The working class needs to build a movement and Zohran is clearly the best game in town.” 

The group of around 30 union leaders, staff and rank-and-file members had the initial goal of encouraging unions that had endorsed former Governor Andrew Cuomo or sat out of the primary entirely to get behind Mamdani. 

While many unions — Local 100 among them — have not made endorsements ahead of the November contest, several have endorsed Mamdani since the primary, and the goal of Labor for Zohran has shifted to deepen that support across labor’s rank and file.  

For longtime union leaders like Christophe Silvera, the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 808, that means educating his members about why they should vote for Mamdani. "We have to lead,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves what the better path is for our members and guide them there." 

The longest-serving principal officer in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Silvera has been telling his members that Mamdani is the only candidate “in labor’s interest,” and joined Labor for Zohran to help spread the word. 

Silvera said Thursday that throughout his tenure he’s seen his membership vote more solidly Republican as the Democratic Party has moved away from its working-class base. He feels Mamdani could be the one to bring workers back into the party's fold, and compared the Queens Assembly Member to former Presidents Barack Obama and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

"Young people can't afford to live here, old folks can't afford to live here and that has to change and that doesn’t change with the tried and true policies, that changes when someone wants to do something different,” Silvera argued. "For me, Mamdani represents that change.” 

‘Deeper than his campaign’ 

A spokesperson for the Mamdani campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Mamdani has increasingly leaned on labor leaders in the weeks since the primary. He appeared with District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido, spoke at a  New York State Nurses Association rally and held press conferences at the headquarters of Locals 1199 and 32 BJ of the Service Employees International Union. 

Stephanie Luce, a member of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY, said that member education can be key for ensuring that a broad swath of New Yorkers beyond those who participate in or watch press conferences and rallies understand what Mamdani, and the policies he supports, bring to the table. She said that while many union members are excited about Mamdani, the candidate isn't able to reach some members who aren’t active in the union or in local politics 

“He can only do so much in terms of having press conferences and so forth. It doesn't reach a lot of the membership who maybe aren't already active in the union or aren't in leadership,” said Luce. "This group can go deeper than his campaign can go." 

Labor for Zohran plans to hold its first webinar that's open to labor leaders and any workers — union or non-union — later this month. Patafio is hoping to grow the group further and welcome workers from across the city.

The union leader said that he's thinking far ahead to how union members and leaders can support Mamdani should he become mayor. “When he wins, to pass his agenda he will need mass support and hopefully we can help build that mass support within the labor movement,” he said. 

That could mean anything from labor unions organizing rallies demonstrating support for Mamdani’s policies or coordinating caravans to Albany to pressure state lawmakers to enact his agenda.  

"The group is made up of people who have a history of standing up against the mainstream,” Silvera said of Labor for Zohran. "We have to fight the dynamics piece by piece, step by step, and I'm proud to be part of a group of people that are proud to support Mamdani." 

hfreeman@thechiefleader.com