Mamdani's early appointments, pro-worker moves lauded by union leaders

Rafael Espinal, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, is the former executive director of the Freelancer's Union where he successfully lobbied lawmakers to pass the Freelance Isn't Free Act in 2024 that expanded protections for freelancers.

Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announce their universal childcare plan on Jan. 8.

Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

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In his New Years Day inaugural address delivered on the steps of City Hall, Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared that 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 Employemnet Law Project, a progressive economic think tank, argued that, on top of his appointments, Mamdani made his priorities clear when he joined striking nurses on the picket line and cracked down on delivery apps who were stealing tips from 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 that District Council 37’s former political director, Jahmila Edwards, would become his Director of Government Affairs.

Henry Garrido, the executive director of DC 37, who worked with Edwards for years, said that 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 assemblymember on its endorsement slate in the Democratic Party primary for mayor last year. 

“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."

Leadership pulled from unions 

Mamdani’s other labor-minded moves include the appointment of Ramzi Kassem, a professor of Law at the CUNY School of Law and a member of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY, as the city’s Chief Counsel.  

James Davis, president of the PSC, said in a statement he was thrilled by Kassem’s appointment.  

“Professor Kassem’s work as the founding director of the CLEAR Center at the CUNY School of Law, including his defense of Mahmoud Khalil in the face of attempted deportation over political speech, is a source of pride for our members and the CUNY community,” he said.

Most recently, Mamdani appointed Rafael Espinal, the former executive director and president of the Freelancer's Union, a pro-worker nonprofit that advocates on behalf of freelance workers, as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Under Espinal’s leadership, the Freelancer’s Union successfully got lawmakers to pass the Freelance Isn’t Free Act in 2024 that increased protections for hundreds of thousands of freelancers across the state.  

“I was struck by Rafael's passion for this specific work and the importance that it holds for New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said when announcing Espinal’s appointment, where the Mayor pledged to stand with unions and create more jobs. “I can think of no one better equipped to lead this office in this particular moment.” 

'Economic justice dream team'

Other allies of Mamdani are celebrating his early labor moves. Brandon Mancilla, director of United Auto Workers Region 9A, the first union to endorse Mamdani in the Democratic Party primary for mayor, earlier this month said that the appointment of Su as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice was “fantastic” 

“He's living up to expectations,” Mancilla said of Mamdani “In New York you have to work with the labor movement because this is a union town and I think Zohran understood that right away.” 

The labor leader pointed out that even in positions not directly related to labor issues, Mamdani has appointed union members. They include Cea Weaver, a former UAW Local 7902 member at The New School, who is the director of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants. 

“He’s assembled a national-level economic justice dream team,” said Sonn. 

For many city workers, the biggest test will come when the Mamdani administration negotiates the contracts representing the city's over 300,000 civil servants, likely starting with DC 37’s citywide economic agreement later this year that covers around 90,000 workers. The union’s contract, negotiated with the Eric Adams administration, expires Nov. 6. 

Garrido said that he wants to hear more from members about their priorities for the upcoming contract before launching into bargaining.  He added that the union must resolve smaller outstanding agreements left over from the Adams administration, including the contract covering over 4,500 FDNY EMS workers and officers, which Garrido said was the union’s current “priority number 1.” 

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, said that Mamdani’s most important move has been his announcement Jan. 8 to make childcare universal for New Yorkers, one of the three core tenants of his campaign for mayor last year.  

"He understands that the most important people in society are the middle class and the working class because that's what makes everything run,” said Mulgrew. “Childcare is a major accomplishment."