In his New Year’s Day inaugural speech on the steps of City Hall, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration would “return the vast resources of this City to the workers who call it home.”
In the weeks since that address, union leaders say a number of his early decisions have reflected that commitment.
Among the most notable moves was the appointment of Julie Su, who served as acting U.S. Secretary of Labor under former President Joe Biden, to a newly created role as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice. The announcement came even before Mamdani officially took office.
Paul Sonn, state policy program director at the National Employment Law Project, described the early actions as a clear signal of the administration’s priorities. In addition to the appointments, Sonn pointed to Mamdani’s appearance on the picket line with nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association, as well as steps taken against delivery app companies accused of withholding workers’ tips.
“It’s exciting how quickly he’s moving,” Sonn said. “He’s paying attention to how workers, consumers, and small businesses are struggling and, in many cases, being taken advantage of by large corporations.”
Two days before naming Su, Mamdani announced that Jahmila Edwards, the former political director of AFSCME District Council 37, would serve as his director of government affairs.
Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37, called the early appointments an encouraging sign of the new administration’s direction on labor issues. Garrido worked closely with Edwards and has been an ally of Mamdani since the union included the former assembly member on its mayoral endorsement slate during the Democratic primary.
“Having people who understand labor inside the administration is always helpful,” Garrido said. “You don’t have to explain what labor means or the contributions workers have made. They already know because they’ve lived it.”
Mamdani has also named Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York School of Law and a member of the Professional Staff Congress, as the city’s chief counsel.
