BREAKING NEWS: Powerhouse Unions 32BJ SEIU and Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC) Endorse Andrew Cuomo for New York City Mayor
32BJ SEIU Represents 85,000 Building Service Workers in New York City and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC) Represents Approximately 40,000 Hotel and Gaming Workers in New York City
32BJ SEIU President Pastreich: “Andrew Cuomo is equipped to stand up to attacks on our city that threaten our finances, our jobs, our public transportation, our healthcare, our social security and our rights. He has concrete plans to address our housing and healthcare affordability crises as Mayor and as Governor showed he knows how to deliver for working people.”
HTC President Maroko: “His record as governor shows what’s possible when leadership puts working families first—and those are exactly the kinds of policy victories New Yorkers will need in the years ahead… When we need him in a fight, he will be in the foxhole with us until the end.”
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today received the coveted endorsement of two of the city’s most prominent labor unions—32BJ SEIU and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC).
Together, these unions represent roughly 125,000 workers across key sectors such as building services, hospitality, healthcare, and public service. Union leaders praised Governor Cuomo for his longstanding commitment to working families, highlighting his leadership in making New York the first state in the nation to enact a $15 minimum wage, his job creation efforts, and his consistent focus on improving quality of life for New Yorkers.
“New York City needs a strong Mayor who has a vision and plan to deliver for the working people of our great city. Someone who has shown they are with 32BJ members and will continue to be. Someone who has demonstrated the know-how to lead in times of crisis and who has effectively run a complicated government system. Andrew Cuomo is equipped to stand up to attacks on our city that threaten our finances, our jobs, our public transportation, our healthcare, our social security and our rights. He has concrete plans to address our housing and healthcare affordability crises as Mayor and as Governor showed he knows how to deliver for working people,” Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ SEIU said. “Governor Cuomo delivered airport essential workers the highest minimum wage in the nation and access to healthcare benefits under the Healthy Terminals Act. All workers in the state won the $15 minimum wage and Paid Sick Leave. He fought for and secured prevailing wage standards for building service workers on subsidized projects. Farm workers and domestic workers who had been left out of national labor laws saw the historic extension of labor rights and when the labor movement’s rights were under attack, he signed legislation making union dues tax deductible. He came through for our immigrant communities, signing the NYS Dream Act, signing the law extending access to driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status and standing up to Trump’s demands for the State’s database of undocumented immigrants who had received driver licenses. Our members saw real leadership from Governor Cuomo in the face of Trump’s attacks. During the pandemic, his clear, decisive actions brought New Yorkers the leadership, consistency and information we needed at a time when the federal government was failing to. As Mayor, Cuomo will once again stand up and fight for 32BJ members, working people, and New Yorkers. To take on the affordability crisis head on by building and preserving more affordable housing units, while creating good jobs. To address the crisis of exorbitant healthcare costs and use the NYC Office of Healthcare Accountability. To back pro-worker legislation, pass and enforce wage standards on city contracts, and to protect the diversity of New York City by taking steps to assist undocumented immigrants toward a path to citizenship and avoid deportation. This moment calls for someone who doesn’t stay home in times of crisis and who does not back down from a fight when things get tough. This moment requires Andrew Cuomo for Mayor.”
“In these challenging times for New Yorkers, it is critical that we have a mayor with a proven history of effective government management to lead us towards a better future. That’s why we are endorsing Andrew Cuomo to be the next Mayor of New York City,” Rich Maroko, President of the New York Hotel and Gaming Trades Council said. “His record as governor shows what’s possible when leadership puts working families first—and those are exactly the kinds of policy victories New Yorkers will need in the years ahead. From creating thousands of high-quality gaming jobs, to cracking down on short-term rentals that threaten hotel jobs and housing affordability, to standing by our side during hard-fought contract fights, we have seen Andrew Cuomo deliver for our members when it counts. Now, especially as our union approaches a renegotiation of our citywide hotel contract that will determine the livelihoods of our members and their families for the next decade, we need a leader who understands what’s at stake and will have our backs through it all. As Andrew Cuomo said when he recently addressed our members, when we need him in a fight, he will be in the foxhole with us until the end. We know Andrew will be a formidable leader, and we are proud to support him.”
“My campaign is about the hardworking men and women of New York City who have been failed by their government for too long. The members of HTC and 32BJ SEIU are the backbone of New York. They clean our buildings, run our hotels, care for our communities, and keep this city moving. Without a strong middle and working class, no city can survive — let alone thrive — and right now, we are dangerously close to losing them. If working people can’t afford to live here, raise families here, or retire with dignity here, then New York is no longer New York. We’re not just talking about losing residents — we’re talking about losing the very soul of our city, and I refuse to let that happen,” Governor Cuomo said. “To me, this is personal: I have fought for and alongside the men and women of 32BJ and HTC for years– their faith in me is a tremendous boost for our campaign and I am proud to have their endorsement. With their support comes an ironclad commitment to turn New York City around and make it safe, fair, and affordable for our working families, now and for years to come.”
32BJ SEIU and HTC joins fellow unions, the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics & Fire Inspectors Local 2507, the New York City Deputy Sheriffs’ Benevolent Association, New York City Coalition of the International Union of the Operating Engineers, The Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, Teamsters Local 237, Local 3 IBEW, New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters, and District Council 9 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in endorsing Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Throughout his career in public service, Governor Cuomo has been a champion for working New Yorkers. He raised wages for millions, protected the right to organize when the Supreme Court tried to break the back of the labor movement, increased access to healthcare, enacted the nation’s strongest paid family leave program and expanded apprenticeships, vocational training, and workforce development programs. He also advanced the most substantial infrastructure program in a generation, including the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall and the new Kosciuszko Bridge and the new JFK and LaGuardia Airports – all major projects built with union labor.
The unions join the Democratic Organization of Queens County and Chairman Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres,Brooklyn Democratic Chair, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Staten Island Democratic Party, former New York State Comptroller Carl McCall, former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., New York State Senator Sanders Jr., Assembly Member Charles Fall, Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs, Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia, Assembly Member Latrice Walker, Assembly Member Erik Dilan, Assembly Member Jordan Wright, Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato, Assembly Member Sam Berger, Assembly Member Vivian Cook, Assembly Member John Zaccaro, Assembly Member William Colton, Assembly Member David Weprin, Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, Assembly Member Clyde Vanel, Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman, Council Member Kamillah Hanks, Council Member Farah N. Louis, Council Member Susan Zhuang, Council Member Darlene Mealy, Council Member Lynn Schulman, 35 District Leaders across the city, former National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman, the Village Reform Democratic Club, Taminent Regular Democratic Club, American Jewish Congress, over 45 prominent Black clergy members, and the Italian American Leadership Council in endorsing Governor Cuomo for Mayor of New York City.
