(Bronx, NY) Today, the Laundry & Distribution workers affiliate of Workers United SEIU announced their support for Adriano Espaillat in the NY-13 Congressional Primary. Today’s endorsement comes just a week after Bronx County Democrats announced their support at a boisterous press conference on the steps of Bronx Borough Hall. This is the second major union to endorse in the 13th District congressional Primary race following Transport Workers United Local 100 last month.
“I am proud to share our union’s endorsement of Adriano Espaillat for Congress today,” Wilfredo Larancuent, leader of the Laundry & Distribution workers affiliate of Workers United SEIU said. “Adriano has been a strong voice for union families in the Senate and I know he will be just as tenacious in Congress. He has shown his support for CLEAN NYC, the campaign to end the exploitation of vulnerable workers in industrial laundries in our city, and we are proud to join his diverse coalition of support today. United we will bring Adriano to victory. We are ready to work with him in Congress to fight for fair pay, the right to unionize and for the health and safety of working families.”
Today, the Laundry & Distribution workers affiliate of Workers United SEIU announced their support for Adriano Espaillat in the NY-13 Congressional Primary. Photo Credit: Espaillat for Congress.
“I am thrilled to have the support of Workers United’s Laundry & Distribution worker affiliate,” Adriano Espaillat said. “Working families are the fabric of our City – ensuring their safety in the workplace, right to unionize and that they can earn a living wage is essential to our success as a society. I am proud to have been a voice on these and so many other issues union workers face in the State Senate, and I look forward to continue working with Workers United SEIU members in Congress.”
The Laundry, Distribution & Food Service Joint Board, Workers United, SEIU, represents 8,000 workers in New York City and its industrial suburbs.
Espaillat is far outpacing his rivals with key endorsements from the Transport Workers Union Local 100, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Bronx County Democratic Party Chair and Assemblymember Carl E. Heastie (AD -83), Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, Senators Brad Hoylman (SD-27) and Gustavo Rivera (SD-33), Assemblymembers Karim Camara (AD-43), Gabriela Rosa (AD-72), José Rivera (AD-73), Jeffrey Dinowitz (AD-81), and Victor Pichardo (AD-86), Councilmembers Mark Levine (CD-7), Ydanis Rodriguez (CD-10), Andrew Cohen (CD-11) and Richie Torres (CD-15), the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, and the Democratic Club of El Barrio & East Harlem.
In Congress, Adriano Espaillat Will:
- Champion Affordable and Low-income Housing: Affordable and low-income housing is disappearing in our community, and longtime residents are being driven from their homes. Adriano Espaillat led the fight to renew and strengthen New York State’s tenant protection laws, and he will bring the same determined focus to Washington.
- Empower our District Through Immigration Reform: Immigration reform is a defining civil rights issue of our time. Espaillat believes the time is now to fix our broken immigration laws and bring over 11 million Americans out of the shadows. The current system has split families apart, and left Latino, Caribbean, and African immigrant communities in the 13th congressional District vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
- Make Economic Development about the Community: Espaillat believes that economic development isn’t successful if current residents are left behind. Espaillat will fight to shift public subsidies from the big box chain stores paying minimum wage salaries to existing small and minority owned businesses looking to grow, and local entrepreneurs who need capital to get started.
- Fight for Healthcare & An End to Health Disparities in Communities of Color: From diabetes, to obesity, to childhood asthma, Upper Manhattan and The Bronx residents have urgent needs that are not being met in Washington. Espaillat will push to prioritize federal research, education and grant funding towards targeting low-income communities of color to close the minority health disparity gap for children and seniors alike.
More About 13th District Congressional Candidate Adriano Espaillat:
- Adriano Espaillat got his start as a community activist in Northern Manhattan, and currently serves in the New York State Senate. In the legislature, he quickly distinguished himself as a reformer and progressive fighter who has stood up for working families.
- In 2011, Espaillat led the fight to renew New York State’s tenant protection laws, which were set to expire that year. Espaillat’s advocacy safeguarded over 1 million units of affordable housing, and earned new protections for over 2.5 million people, including the creation of the Tenant Protection Unit to stop harassment and abuse.
- As Chair of the Senate Latino Conference, Espaillat has championed state-based immigration reforms, including: legislation allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, the DREAM Act, and the Farmworkers Bill of Rights.
- Espaillat has been a vocal advocate for tenants, consumers, veterans, immigrants and local businesses. He has championed marriage equality and civil rights issues, and efforts to protect our environment from hydrofracking and other dangers.
- He has passed laws preserving affordable housing, giving low-income day care workers the right to organize and obtain health care, and sponsored measures to improve hospital translation services. He established a higher education scholarship fund for relatives of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001.
