NEW YORK—Signaling his continuing commitment to progressive politics in action, incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani named former Biden administration Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su as the city’s first-ever First Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice.
The appointment reflects not only the youthful Democratic Socialist mayor-elect’s commitment, but also Su’s record. First as California Labor Commissioner and then while running the U.S. Labor Department, Su became noted for pursuing corporate malefactors, especially those who exploited and repressed workers and cheated consumers.
Her record in the Golden State was so upsetting to the corporate elite, there and elsewhere, that they mounted a fierce lobbying campaign to convince U.S. Senate Republicans to block her confirmation as Labor Secretary. She wound up being Acting Secretary for more than two years.
The leaders of United Auto Workers Region 9A, which includes a high proportion of New York universities’ and hospitals’ teaching assistants, research assistants, and similar workers, praised Mamdani’s appointment of Su.
Those workers were a key part of the grassroots army of foot soldiers for Mamdani’s successful run for the mayoralty. He convincingly won despite hostility from much of the Democratic establishment and well-financed Wall Street opposition. Those moguls backed scandal-scarred former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani twice.
In her new post, Su “will coordinate all the work the administration will do to uplift workers’ rights, protect consumers, and keep corporate greed and bad bosses accountable,” Region 9A’s statement said.
Su “led the most pro-worker agenda in our federal government’s history, including ensuring historic investments of federal dollars went to creating good union jobs, securing over $1 billion in back wages for victims of wage theft, and implementing the American Rescue Plan’s special financial assistance program, which stabilized pensions for more than one million workers and retirees.”
Region 9A also hailed Su as “a tremendous champion of the UAW” during its successful Stand Up Strike against the Detroit-based auto companies, Ford, GM, and Stellantis, formerly DaimlerChrysler. The rolling strike forced the manufacturers to give workers back many of the losses forced on them after the 2008 Wall Street-caused financial crash—everything from health care to pensions to imposed two-tier wages.
That debacle pushed GM and DaimlerChrysler into bankruptcy. The Democratic Obama administration’s loan guarantees and restructuring of the companies saved them, at the cost of concessions demanded by Obama’s overseer, Ron Bloom, a Wall Street-oriented Democrat.
“Su has fought for and won long overdue worker protections and pioneered creative new strategies for promoting a good jobs economy,” added Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.
“Creation of a Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice position led by someone of Ms. Su’s stature and abilities signals the crucial role that cities now play in protecting workers and in breaking through the gridlock and special interests that too often derail efforts by Washington and the states to act and innovate.”
Mamdani’s nomination of Su and the creation of the new post is part of the run-up to his swearing-in on Jan. 1.
The first ceremony, just after midnight on New Year’s Day, will be the official one, with New York Attorney General Letitia James administering the oath. The second and more public ceremony, that afternoon, will see Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., a Democratic Socialist like Mamdani, swear him in before 4,000 guests in front of City Hall. Then there will be a massive come-one-come-all block party in Manhattan.
“At a moment when democracy is under attack and cynicism about our politics runs deep, Zohran Mamdani represents a new generation of progressive leadership rooted in courage, integrity, and solidarity,” Sanders said ahead of the mayoral inauguration.
“His victory is not just about one city or one election, it is about the strength of a working-class movement that says unequivocally: The future of New York belongs to the people, not the billionaire class. It is my honor to swear him in as the next mayor of New York City.”
“It is an honor to be sworn in by two leaders I have admired for years,” James and Sanders, Mamdani replied in a statement. “Attorney General James has taken on powerful interests in her defense of New Yorkers and embodied the principle of equal justice before the law.
“Sanders laid the foundations for our movement with his steadfast commitment to the dignity of working people and his belief in a government that serves the many, not just the few,” Mamdani said. “I can think of no better leaders to help usher in a new era for New York City.”
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