The incredibly successful Broadway campaign occupied my first month at Local 802. Please read this fantastic analysis in this issue by Sarah Haines and the Broadway Negotiating Committee. I was also involved in Local 802’s endorsement activities, which led to Zohran Mamdani’s successful bid to serve as our next mayor.

Now that things have quieted down (not that things ever really quiet down in the labor movement), I want to turn to the critical issue of strategic planning.

Perhaps it’s a coincidence that I started working at the union just as Local 802 is undergoing a strategic planning and visioning process run by a highly trusted union expert, Susan Schurman.

Dr. Schurman earned a B.A. and an M.A. from Michigan State University and a Ph.D from the University of Michigan, where she served as director of the Labor Studies Center and research investigator in the School of Public Health.

Currently, Dr. Schurman serves as a distinguished professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers’ School of Management and Labor Relations. Dr. Schurman will bring her impressive credentials to bear to help Local 802 tighten its focus and articulate its vision for the future. More importantly, she will help us restore a sense of shared purpose and even some civility to our internal governance.

I look forward to participating in this process and will report back to the members when there’s more to say!