Zohran Mamdani’s shock victory in this year’s New York City Democratic mayoral primary upended New York politics and called into question the effectiveness of big local unions, which mostly lined up behind loser Andrew Cuomo.
But labor was far from unified behind Cuomo: some unions opposed him, and one major union, the United Auto Workers (UAW), was the first to endorse Mamdani last fall.
This endorsement came at a time when Mamdani was a relatively unknown state legislator. It was the result of rank-and-file activism and a new culture of openness, transparency, and progressivism in the UAW.
As a result, the UAW helped power Mamdani’s victory and now stands poised to benefit from a new era of progressive New York City politics.
The UAW’s risky endorsement of Mamdani would never have happened without the transformation of the union that occurred over the past half decade. After a series of corruption and embezzlement scandals led to the removal and conviction of top UAW officials, the union reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice that required a national referendum on adopting direct election of union leadership.
In 2021, UAW members voted overwhelmingly to adopt direct elections, a longtime goal for reformers. In the first-ever direct elections that followed, reformers won every race they ran in, including the UAW presidency and the leadership of Region 9A, which covers locals in the New York City area, New England, and Puerto Rico.
As a result, the UAW’s endorsement process for the 2025 New York City elections was newly…
Auteur: Sam Feldman
