Mamdani Defies His Party Just as Donald Trump Did, a union leader says
A top New York City labor leader says mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is succeeding for the same reason President Donald Trump has succeeded: 'In the eyes of working people, he is the antidote to what has plagued his party."
This is according to John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union and former president of TWU Local 100, the historic local that represents New York City subway and bus workers.
'This is about working people with establishment fatigue, exhausted with same old, same old, corporate Democrats and Republicans catering to corporate interests,' Samuelsen told me in an interview.
'Zohran smashed establishment Democrats,' Samuelsen said. 'He talks about economic security and affordability for working people. He focused on economics. Trump did the same thing in 2016: Now it's ten years later and Democrats still have not learned the lesson. Imagine how desolate the Democrats are that a Democrat running on affordability is an anti-establishment Democrat. That's nuts. But Zohran learned the lesson.'
TWU has not endorsed Mamdani. However, Samuelsen backs Mamdani's plan for free bus service. 'I've spoken to him at length about his positions on public transit, as far back as four years ago,' Samuelsen said. 'His discussions with TWU have shaped his vision for public transit. That separates him from the crowd: he has the humility to come and speak with the union.'
Mamdani was elected to the state assembly in 2020. He championed a 2023 pilot program to test free busses on five NYC routes.
Unlike TWU, the New York City Central Labor Council, a coalition of over 300 unions, endorsed Mamdani on June 30 following his victory in the June 25th Democratic primary.
'As a coalition of more than 300 unions representing over one million workers, the NYC CLC's endorsement carries the collective strength of the city's labor movement and reaffirms our shared commitment to electing leaders who will fight alongside working people,' the council said in a press release.
Regarding a TWU endorsement, Samuelsen noted that he has relationships with all three mayor candidates. TWU has about 48,000 members in New York City, including 42,000 members of Local 100 and about 6,000 flight attendants at JetBlue. Nationally, TWU has about 161,000 members and is the largest airline union, with members at American, JetBlue, Southwest and others.
First elected president of Local 100 in 2009, Samuelsen served two terms before being elected TWU international president in 2017. He has ongoing relationships with Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
On Tuesday, Adams won the backing of a dozen city unions – nearly all the city police, corrections and sanitation unions, but not the Police Benovolent Association, the largest police union.
Adams 'is a working-class guy from the streets of New York who has support among our membership,' Samuelsen said. 'He took crime in the transit system, subway and bus, very seriously. There is a level of appreciation from our membership and from the officers of the TWU. He's not perfect. Nobody's perfect.'
Adams' website cites significant economic and public safety improvements during his term. They include a record number of city jobs, contracts with 100% of the city's uniformed workforce, a 7.3% drop in homicides and 6.8% drop in shootings in 2024 and the removal of more than 20,000 illegal guns from city streets.
Cuomo said Monday that he will run as a third-party candidate. Samuelsen said Cuomo betrayed TWU workers when he committed to a bill that includes overtime earnings in pension calculations, then vetoed it. In a video released Monday, Cuomo told supporters, 'I am truly sorry I let you down.' He noted that 'Only 13% of New Yorkers voted in the June primary,' cited economic issues he wanted to focus on, and said he would listen more to city residents. He also added that Mamdani offers slick slogans without practical solutions.
Union workers may disagree. Samuelsen said that, like Adams, Mamdani has support within Local 100. In upcoming subway contract talks, 'We don't bargain with the city, but I think he would be supportive of the TWU in our contract fight and our fight to keep conductors on the trains,' Samuelsen said.
Other unions appear similiarly swayed by the upcoming Democrat. The United Auto Workers released a statement in June saying: 'We were proud to be the first union to endorse Zohran because it's time for a political movement that puts the working class first. Our members spoke out and turned out in a big way — and we're just getting started.'
Likewise, the UAW praised the Trump administration in March for addressing the 'harmful economic framework that has devastated the working class.' While responses to the tariff negotiations are ongoing, it's clear that many unions see policies that impact wages and cost of living as an urgent priority. In contrast, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA issued a statement in March claiming the Trump administration was attacking workers' rights, but that particular union has not been as vocal about the New York City mayoral election so far. Mamdani still has the opportunity to win endorsements from even more unions related to transportation.
'He is focused on affordability," Samuelsen said. "If he effectuates his campaign agenda, it will look great for Democrats in the rest of the country. But on the policing side, if New York spins out of control, that negates the affordability.'
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