Mayor Mamdani Launches First-in-the-Nation Office of Worker Power to Support Labor Organizing

NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the Mayor’s Office of Worker Power (MOWP), the first office of its kind in the nation, to use the resources and convening power of City Hall to help workers get informed, connected and organized.

MOWP will work across City Hall and City agencies on outreach, education, policy, research and strategic partnerships focused on workers who lack meaningful benefits, adequate wages and a voice on the job. The office will be led by its inaugural Executive Director, Tony Perlstein – a former longshoreman and UAW organizing director.

At a time when the average CEO of the 100 largest, lowest-paying corporations in the nation earned 614 times their average worker last year, and real median incomes are stagnating for working New Yorkers, the need for workers to come together and build power has never been greater. The office will help workers to shape City policy and strengthen the City’s ability to identify and address violations of workers’ rights.

“Every day, working New Yorkers show up, do their jobs, and keep this city running. Too often, they have no say in the conditions they work under,” said Mayor Mamdani. “The Mayor’s Office of Worker Power will make sure workers have a seat at the table before exploitation becomes a crisis and violations become routine. We’re connecting workers to their rights, to each other and to the organizations ready to stand with them. Because when workers have power, this city works better for everyone.”

“This office allows us to get ahead of exploitation instead of simply responding to it,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “By building relationships with workers, unions and worker centers, we can understand what is happening on the ground and act before problems become crises. That is how we build an economy that delivers for working people.”

MOWP will be supervised by the Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice (DMEJ) and will draw on the convening power of City Hall, DMEJ’s policy and enforcement portfolio, partner agencies and the expertise of worker organizations to help workers build power across New York City.

MOWP will:

• Convene rank-and-file workers, union leaders, worker centers, immigrant workers, gig workers and platform workers.
• Hold public hearings on significant worker issues.
• Provide referrals to organizations that support workers.
• Coordinate with City agencies to produce research on pressing issues facing workers.
• Develop policy proposals informed by workers’ experiences.
• Engage workers on emerging challenges, including new technologies, worker misclassification, immigration-based exploitation and climate risks to worker safety.
• Connect workers with information about their rights at everyday touchpoints, including workforce centers, libraries, IDNYC offices, schools and community events.

The office builds on the Mamdani administration’s record of strengthening worker protections. The administration’s crackdown on deceptive tipping practices has delivered an estimated $104 million in additional tips to the city’s roughly 70,000 app-based delivery workers since January, with workers on pace to earn approximately $2,287 more annually. Mayor Mamdani opened the nation’s first ‘Deliveristas’ Hub’ outside City Hall Park, offering a space for respite for delivery workers across the city.

The Mayor recently announced a partnership between the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) and D.A. Bragg’s office to crack down on wage theft and other violations. In June, Mayor Mamdani signed an Executive Order protecting the 1.4 million New Yorkers who work outdoors from extreme heat. The Mamdani administration also recently came out in support of the Delivery Protection Act, a measure aimed at regulating the expansion of last-mile delivery centers to protect residents and workers.

Tony Perlstein brings decades of experience as a union and community organizer and a lifelong commitment to working people, community empowerment and public service. Born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, Perlstein most recently served as a director in the organizing department of the United Auto Workers (UAW), having previously served as the union’s national co-director of education.

As a former longshore worker in the port of New York and New Jersey, Perlstein was elected Secretary-Treasurer of his local union and helped lead a successful national effort to raise wages and ensure new technology did not undermine workers’ standard of living. Before becoming a longshoreman, he organized New York City restaurant, warehouse, lumberyard and other industrial workers to advocate for better working conditions. 

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