The union that runs New York’s subways and buses tried to talk the state’s biggest labor federation out of backing Gov. Kathy Hochul. It didn’t work.
On July 1, Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen sent a letter to New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento urging him not to endorse Hochul’s reelection, according to City & State, which obtained the letter and first reported on it. Roughly seven hours after that story published, Cilento’s executive council voted to endorse Hochul anyway.
The AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization made up of individual unions, TWU among them. Samuelsen’s argument was that the federation had no business speaking for its members on this. “There is no rationale for the State Fed, an umbrella organization of individual unions, to endorse this governor,” he wrote. “In fact, it is absolutely counter-productive to do so. … When workers who have been subjected to Hochul’s very real attacks see NY State’s largest labor body endorse her, their faith in organized labor will further erode.”
TWU represents the subway and bus workers who keep the MTA running, and the union is in the middle of contentious contract talks with the MTA, which Hochul controls. The fight over whether to endorse the governor is also a fight happening across a bargaining table.
Samuelsen’s letter ran through a list of labor disputes he pinned on Hochul. He cited the wildcat strike of state corrections officers that ended with thousands of firings, the Long Island Rail Road strike he blamed on the governor, and an executive order that let hospitals bring in out-of-state nurses during a multi-hospital nurses strike earlier this year. On the LIRR dispute, Hochul has maintained that the federal government hurt negotiations.
That nurses strike was the largest in city history, per Jacobin, which reported that some 15,000 nurses across Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian facilities walked off the job, and that Hochul repeatedly extended the executive order allowing hospitals to more easily hire temporary and out-of-state replacement staff.
Samuelsen also criticized Hochul’s veto record. He wrote that she has vetoed union priority bills 70 percent of the time, a rate he called worse than many congressional Republicans. “When the democratic governor of New York is being bested by Republican congressionals, workers are truly in trouble,” he wrote. He did not cite a source for the 70 percent figure.
Cilento, a longtime Hochul ally, backed her anyway. He stuck with the governor even in 2023, when her initial chief judge pick angered labor leaders. His endorsement statement did not mention Samuelsen. “Throughout her career in public service, Kathy Hochul has been a steadfast champion for working people,” Cilento said. “She understands that having a strong union movement is the best way to help build the middle class and a better state for all New Yorkers. … She is exactly the leader we need to move our state forward.”
Hochul’s campaign listed other unions that have endorsed her. Campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said labor “has her back in this election,” listing 32BJ, DC37, HTC, LiUNA, IUOE 825, CSEA, RWDSU, UNITE HERE Local 100, CWA District 1, NYSUT, UUP and PSC-CUNY, “with even more to come.” She said: “TWU is welcome to join the family.”
The campaign also passed along a quote from DC37 Executive Director Henry Garrido, whose union is also part of the state AFL-CIO. “As Governor, Kathy Hochul has proven to be a fierce fighter for New York’s working families,” Garrido said. “At a time when workers’ rights are being ripped apart at the federal level, it is increasingly important that we elect leaders that will prioritize the needs of our members and all New Yorkers.”
TWU will not endorse Hochul. The state’s largest labor body, and a long roster of other unions, already have.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily image
