With the general election for NYC mayor approaching and the Broadway musicians in negotiation, I am pleased to introduce myself as the new chief of staff! I come to Local 802 having recently served as the deputy communications director for 32BJ SEIU and, before that, as the press secretary for the New York Immigration Coalition. When I took on the role at 32BJ SEIU in 2022, it marked my first foray into union work. I immediately fell in love with labor and developed a deep commitment to fighting for working New Yorkers. While there, I had the privilege of organizing Chipotle workers, participating in the launch of Starbucks Workers United in New York City, and promoting the 32BJ SEIU’s core principles of championing the rights of workers, immigrants, and women.

But far and away the most satisfying project I worked on was the union’s 2023 contract negotiations on behalf of office cleaners. As the first post-pandemic contract, the negotiations promised to be challenging to say the least! Ensuring that we won a contract the cleaners deserved required a union-wide mobilization effort that we initiated roughly a year before the start of negotiations. We had to communicate effectively with the bargaining committee, the office cleaner members, our entire membership, the media, and the politicians we needed on the union’s side. Every union member had to understand and appreciate that the significance of this contract went far beyond the office cleaners themselves. In the end, 32BJ won the best contract for office cleaners in nearly 20 years because the union fought as one. The effort beautifully embodied the term “team effort.” I came away from my time with 32BJ SEIU a firm believer in the power of unions and the vital role they play in the lives of working people and our country’s democracy.

My time as press secretary for the New York Immigration Coalition also proved illuminating and rewarding. During my time at the coalition, we faced down the first Trump administration — easily the most xenophobic White House in recent history — amid a global pandemic. We not only protected immigrant New Yorkers during a truly harrowing moment in our nation’s history, but we also expanded immigrant rights in the city and state. We secured a Fund for Excluded Workers, which provided cash relief for countless New Yorkers denied access to Federal stimulus checks or unemployment benefits. I left the coalition with an understanding that the only response to an authoritarian U.S. president hellbent on targeting women, immigrants, people of color, and anyone deemed insufficiently “American” is to stand up and fight. It is a belief I intend to bring to my work at Local 802.

As the past few weeks have shown, we are entering a pivotal moment regarding the rights of expression in the arts and beyond. In such times, unions like Local 802 will play a vital role. I could not be more excited for the opportunity to join you all in this fight on behalf of the performing arts and unions!