UAW Applauds NYC Mayor’s Office of Worker Power

UAW Region 9A enthusiastically supports the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Worker Power in New York City. The UAW has been advocating for the development of this office since the early days of the Mamdani administration. We look forward to working with the first-of-its-kind office to creatively use the city's resources to support working people.

We are especially excited that Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Deputy Mayor Julie Su have trusted our UAW brother Tony Perlstein to lead the office as its Director. Tony has dedicated his life to promoting worker organizing, from his decade as a member and leader in the International Longshoremen’s Association to his efforts building up rank-and-file power at numerous organizations and unions, most recently at UAW. He is the right organizer for the job.

We cannot tackle the affordability crisis without also creating secure, high-paying union jobs. The best way to create those jobs is by organizing to transform non-union jobs into union jobs. But for too long, workers have gotten little more than lip service—if not outright hostility—from our elected officials when we organize.

At a time of declining union density and a dire need for federal labor law reform, it is promising to see the Mamdani administration dedicate resources to changing the political landscape for the working class. Over the last forty years, corporate America has led an offensive at all levels of government to wage war on workers’ rights, while politicians are too often wedded to the same companies exploiting the working class.

The best way to create change is by growing the labor movement, organizing the unorganized, and enacting major policies that empower workers. Although union support is at a historic high among the American people, workers often do not know their rights, nor do they understand how to get the support to form a union.

The UAW believes that city government, just like the federal government did in the 1930s, can help facilitate the conditions for worker organizing. We will work with the new office to ensure that its success can serve as a model to cities and regions across the country.

- Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla

In the news:

• The American Prospect: Mamdani Opens Office of Worker Power (Sept. 7)

• Business Insider: Mamdani signals union loyalty with new NYC office for rank-and-file workers (Sept. 7)

• The City Reporter: On Labor Day, Mamdani Debuts ‘Worker Power’ Office to Support Union Organizing (Sept. 7)