Labor
The 2025 Labor Power 100
New York’s most influential union chiefs and worker advocates.
City & State presents the 2025 Labor Power 100. NYSUT, El-Wise Noisette; DC 37; 32BJ SEIU
Solidarity is a fundamental principle for labor unions. Unionized workers have gone on strike over the past year in warehouses and factories, on the docks and on public transit, in hospitals and in legal aid organizations – and won. Public sector unions large and small have teamed up to secure more generous benefits. And some labor leaders are working together to address broader issues, such as skyrocketing health care costs, the affordable housing crisis and the clean energy transition.
Of course, unions weren't always on the same page. Many faced difficult endorsement decisions, from the presidential race to the New York City mayoral campaign. Challengers have emerged within unions, with 1199SEIU, TWU Local 100 and the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees handing the reins to newcomers.
City & State’s Labor Power 100 highlights the most influential leaders in one of the most politically powerful spheres in New York. The list, researched and written in partnership with journalist Aaron Short, features union chiefs who have scored major victories – new contracts, new legislation, new members – and navigated tough circumstances. It also highlights a number of retirements that have paved the way for new leaders to ascend.
We’re pleased to present the 2025 Labor Power 100.
1. Henry Garrido
Henry Garrido has been on a roll. After boosting membership, redeveloping his union's headquarters and securing an $18 minimum wage for child care workers, Garrido last year won a fourth term leading District Council 37, New York City’s largest public employee union. In January, he was named co-chair of the New York City Council’s Charter Revision Commission. In March, he secured a one-year extension of a pilot program letting city employees work remotely up to two days a week. In June, DC 37’s rejection of Andrew Cuomo in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary paid off, as the union’s second choice, Zohran Mamdani, pulled off the upset. The union is now all in for Mamdani, hosting the mayoral front-runner at a recent event with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The only setback is the city’s scrapping of a controversial plan to switch public sector retirees to Medicare Advantage – but Garrido claims unions now have no further obligation to the city to find medical cost savings.
2. Manny Pastreich
Early this year, 32BJ SEIU’s Manny Pastreich was huddling with embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whom the union had backed in 2021. By April, Adams had opted out of the Democratic primary and the influential union endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor. Then, after Zohran Mamdani stunned Cuomo in the June primary, 32BJ SEIU quickly backed the Democratic nominee, citing his support for working New Yorkers and efforts to raise wages and lower costs. On the policy front, the more than 185,000-member union has continued to take aim at rising health care costs – its detailed complaints may have spurred the federal investigation into NewYork-Presbyterian – and has criticized City Hall’s cooperation with the federal government on an immigration crackdown. Pastreich also secured minimum wage increases at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and an expansion of the state’s Healthy Terminals Act, which provides improved health care and leave benefits for workers at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports.
3. Gary LaBarbera
If you can build it, it’s good for Gary LaBarbera and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. The veteran labor leader is among New York’s foremost advocates of government investment in housing, transportation infrastructure and clean energy. He has been an ally of Gov. Kathy Hochul – applauding her housing package that passed last year and supporting her recent push to invest in nuclear power – and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whom he joined in July to tout a plan to turn the old Flushing Airport into 3,000 new homes. LaBarbera’s 100,000-member union endorsed Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor in the June Democratic primary.
4. Rich Maroko
The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council teamed up with 32BJ SEIU in 2021 in endorsing Eric Adams for New York City mayor, which proved to be a pivotal moment in his successful campaign. This time around, the two unions backed Andrew Cuomo in the primary – and both are now rallying around come-from-behind Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Last fall, HTC celebrated the signing of major New York City legislation imposing stricter licensing and safety requirements in the hotel industry. The nearly 40,000-member union is also looking forward to the many new unionized jobs that will come with the awarding of up to three commercial casino licenses in the downstate region by the end of the year.
5. Michael Mulgrew
Michael Mulgrew is one of the longest-serving labor leaders in New York, having led the influential United Federation of Teachers since 2009 – and he recently won a sixth term helming the 200,000-member union after fending off a pair of spirited challenges. This year, he got the Adams administration to abide by a state law ensuring smaller class sizes, and in Albany he supported a new ban on smartphones in schools. The UFT also secured wage increases for nurses at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. The union did not back any candidate in the New York City mayoral primary, but endorsed Zohran Mamdani after he became the Democratic nominee.
6. Melinda Person
When Donald Trump was elected president last fall, Melinda Person decried the outcome but insisted that the nearly 700,000-member New York State United Teachers’ “mission does not waver.” Person has since criticized Trump’s order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and his cost-cutting federal reconciliation bill, and her union joined a lawsuit seeking to compel the release of $6 billion in federal education funding. Closer to home, she was a driving force behind a new ban on smartphones in New York schools. NYSUT also pushed successfully for universal school meals and revisions to the state Foundation Aid formula.
7. Yvonne Armstrong
In May, Yvonne Armstrong toppled labor titan George Gresham to become president of 1199SEIU, long one of the most influential unions in New York, with more than 450,000 members across a number of East Coast states. The health care union is known for scoring funding in Albany, its strong political operation and its advocacy on progressive policy issues, such as opposing Medicaid cuts and supporting immigrant rights. Armstrong previously led the union’s long-term care division. The union, which under Gresham endorsed Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor, is now backing Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
8. Mario Cilento
Mario Cilento doesn’t have an easy job, as he leads a statewide umbrella labor organization representing 3,000 public sector, private sector and building trades unions with some 2.5 million members and retirees. But he’s getting results, whether it’s lobbying for more generous state pensions, an increased maximum unemployment insurance benefit or the addition of guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence in state government. A few months ago he teamed up with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York’s Gary LaBarbera on an op-ed supporting state investment in nuclear power. The longtime leader of the state AFL-CIO was reelected to a fourth term in August 2024.
9. Dennis Trainor
Dennis Trainor recently reached a major milestone, marking a decade in his role as vice president of Communications Workers of America District 1. Trainor has played a central role in many high-profile labor actions over the years on behalf of his members, which number 145,000 across multiple states in telecommunications, health care and other sectors. This summer, the CWA notched a big win as its Local 1168 members reached a tentative agreement with Buffalo’s Kaleida Health on a new three-year contract. The union didn’t endorse in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, but did back the winning Democratic primary candidates for Buffalo mayor and New York City comptroller.
10. John Samuelsen
Even since he became international president of the 160,000-member Transport Workers Union in 2017, John Samuelsen has maintained a hyperlocal focus. Samuelsen, who previously represented New York transit workers at TWU Local 100, serves on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board and was a key voice on congestion pricing – first providing pivotal support, but later opposing it for what he describes a lack of investment in major projects benefiting working-class commuters. He is unusual among labor leaders in his willingness to ignore party affiliations, supporting some Trump administration appointments but also applauding Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s free bus proposal. Samuelsen is a member of the national AFL-CIO Executive Council.
11. Nancy Hagans & Pat Kane
The New York State Nurses Association won another big contract battle this summer, as the union reached a tentative four-year contract agreement with Albany Medical Center that boosts pay for nurses. The 42,000-member union, which is led by Nancy Hagans and Pat Kane, has been putting pressure on hospitals to comply with the state’s staffing laws. Hagans has also been active as a member of National Nurses United’s Council of Presidents, spearheading NYSNA’s affiliation with the largest nurses union in the country in 2022. She has testified before Congress and recently penned a USA Today op-ed blasting Medicaid cuts. Kane, a NYSNA veteran who has been its executive director since December 2019, has advocated for health care funding in the face of budget cuts and is preparing the union for upcoming contract talks in New York City.
12. Stuart Appelbaum
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union made history this year by securing the first union contracts with Barnes & Noble, just the latest breakthrough for a union that has also made headway with farmworkers, Amazon warehouse employees and staffers at national chains like REI Co-op. RWDSU, which has been led for years by Stuart Appelbaum, also helped implement the state Retail Worker Safety Act, which went into effect this summer. Appelbaum is also an executive vice president of the 1.3 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers, a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council and an associate chair of the Democratic National Committee.
13. Wayne Spence
Since Wayne Spence was reelected to an unprecedented fourth term leading the New York State Public Employees Federation a year ago, he has demonstrated why he has the support of the rank and file. Spence lobbied successfully for $1.1 billion in the latest state budget as a lifeline for SUNY Downstate Medical Center, helped secure funding for body scanners and mental health services and kept the union’s parole officer members from filling in the gaps when correction officers launched an unsanctioned strike. His 55,000-member union represents state employees with professional, scientific and technical titles.
14. Mary Sullivan & Lester Crockett
Veteran labor leader Mary Sullivan has served since 2019 as the president of the Civil Service Employees Association, a 250,000-member union representing a wide range of public sector professions, including school nurses, highway maintenance workers and health care technicians. CSEA also represents some employees at state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision facilities. Sullivan advocated for her members and secured an emergency overtime rate when some corrections officers went on strike without union authorization. CSEA also made headlines for opting not to endorse anyone in the presidential election last year. Lester Crockett is a key figure in CSEA heading up its Region 2, which covers the New York City area.
15. Marianne Pizzitola
A few years ago, Marianne Pizzitola was the little-known leader of the FDNY EMS Retirees Association. But when the de Blasio administration started exploring a transfer of public sector retirees from Medicare to a cheaper Medicare Advantage plan, Pizzitola launched the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees to fight back. The money-saving move was backed by major municipal unions and eventually by the Adams administration – and this year, the state Court of Appeals ruled that it could advance. But in a true David and Goliath tale, Pizzitola finally got New York City Mayor Eric Adams to scrap the move.
16. Brendan Griffith & Janella T. Hinds
In July, Brendan Griffith was elected president of the New York City Central Labor Council, an umbrella organization made up of 300 public and private sector AFL-CIO unions that collectively represent more than a million workers. He is a veteran of the Central Labor Council, having been part of the organization since 2009 and serving as chief of staff and interim president. Griffith, who succeeds Vincent Alvarez in the leadership post, is also a member of Iron Workers Local 40 and United University Professions. Griffith won election for the only leadership position that was open, due to the departure of Alvarez. Janella T. Hinds remains in a key role as secretary-treasurer for the Central Labor Council while also serving as vice president for academic high schools for the United Federation of Teachers. She is serving her fourth four-year term as secretary-treasurer.
17. Randi Weingarten
As the leader of the 1.8 million-member American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten has been outspoken on the national stage. In a July speech, Weingarten assailed President Donald Trump’s cuts to food aid, health care and public education while adding trillions of dollars to the national debt. The AFT leader also has criticized the Democratic establishment, and recently resigned from the Democratic National Committee. Weingarten previously led the United Federation of Teachers in New York from 1998 to 2009, when its current president, Michael Mulgrew, took over for her. She’s a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council.
18. Andrew Ansbro
After Donald Trump was elected to a second term last year, lawmakers failed to pass funding for a health care program for 9/11 first responders and the White House slashed staffing levels for the World Trade Center Health Program. Andrew Ansbro, who leads the 20,000-member Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, took to the streets and rallied politicians behind the program – prompting Trump to reverse staffing and funding cuts. Ansbro also defended his members last year when the New York City Fire Department banned political expression while on the job.
19. Patrick Hendry
Patrick Hendry has led the 24,000-member New York City Police Benevolent Association since July 2023, and he’s had to deal with three police commissioners. What’s been consistent is Hendry’s staunch support for the New York City Police Department rank and file. The 31-year NYPD veteran went to court to halt the firing of 30 rookie officers after they were officially cleared to serve despite problems with their background checks or psychological evaluations. Legislatively, Hendry advocated successfully for a restoration of the NYPD’s 20-year service retirement in the state budget, which the PBA says will help with retention. The union has yet to endorse in the New York City mayoral race.
20. Bhairavi Desai
New York City’s taxi drivers have navigated one crisis after another, and for years they’ve had Bhairavi Desai advocating for them. Desai helped launch the New York Taxi Workers Alliance back in 1998, long before Uber was started. Her latest mission has been pressuring New York City to eliminate lockouts by Uber and its competitor, Lyft, that kept drivers from using the apps temporarily. In June, Desai applauded new regulations from the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission that crack down on the lockouts.
21. Donato Bianco
In 2023, Donato Bianco was promoted to be a vice president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America as well as LIUNA’s regional manager for all of New England, including New York. Bianco came up through Construction and General Laborers’ Local Union 271 in Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as secretary-treasurer for nearly two decades. He’s spearheading LIUNA’s Laborers Rising initiative, which aims to boost member engagement. The union, which has more than 40,000 members in New York’s construction industry, endorsed Andrew Cuomo in this year’s New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Bianco also serves on the New England Laborers’ Training, Health & Safety and Labor-Management Cooperation Trust.
22. Mike Hellstrom Jr.
Mike Hellstrom Jr. has served as a vice president at the Laborers’ International Union of North America and manager of its Eastern region since 2022, when Raymond Pocino retired. As regional manager, Hellstrom oversees more than 45,000 unionized workers in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Puerto Rico. Hellstrom, who has been a member of LIUNA for more than four decades, previously led the 17,000-member Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York and Long Island. He’s been active in New Jersey politics lately, endorsing Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill for governor a year ago.
23. Rebecca Damon
The film industry is back following the 2023 Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike, and Rebecca Damon is getting hard-won worker protections against artificial intelligence codified in New York. Damon is a champion of the state’s film and television incentives and helped two state bills – one requiring authorization to use a dead performer’s digital replica, the other mandating disclosure of a “synthetic” performer – pass this year. Damon is also a key player on the national stage, overseeing SAG-AFTRA’s Labor Policy & International Affairs Division and locals outside Los Angeles.
24. John Durso
John Durso is a labor powerhouse on Long Island. He leads the Long Island Federation of Labor, which represents 250,000 union members in Nassau and Suffolk counties. He advocated for the Empire Wind offshore wind project, which was temporarily halted by the federal government earlier this year, and backed the Las Vegas Sands casino proposal on Long Island, which ultimately was dropped. Durso is also president of the 13,000-member Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW and serves several other labor and governmental bodies. His son, Michael Durso, was elected to the Assembly in 2020.
25. Thomas Gesualdi
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the nation’s most influential labor unions, and Thomas Gesualdi is one of its key officials in New York. Gesualdi leads the 120,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 16, which covers 26 locals in downstate New York as well as in Puerto Rico, and advocates for freight drivers and workers in warehouses, airports, public housing and sanitation. That includes Gesualdi’s Teamsters Local 282, which represents construction drivers, and the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association. Gesualdi championed the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, which the governor signed in December, although a Teamsters-backed antitrust bill stalled in the Assembly last year.
26. John Chiarello
In February, John Chiarello was named president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, New York City’s largest transportation workers union. Chiarello, who was previously TWU Local 100’s secretary-treasurer and interim president, will serve out the rest of the term of his predecessor, Richard Davis, who was forced out following sexual misconduct allegations earlier this year. Chiarello has already secured a commitment from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to hire 300 more workers to carry out maintenance tasks. He also has partnered with the New York City Police Benevolent Association on a push for improved transit safety and demanded timely workers’ compensation payments.
27. Frederick Kowal
As president of United University Professions, Frederick Kowal mounted an effective campaign against the closure of SUNY Downstate Medical Center last year, which this year secured more than $1 billion in capital funds from the state. Kowal, who has led the 42,000-member UUP for more than a decade, also secured more direct aid funding for SUNY to help other campuses contending with deficits as well as capital funding for a new emergency department and annex at SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital in Syracuse. In June, Kowal was elected as board chair of the National Wildlife Federation.
28. Gregory Floyd
Gregory Floyd is the longtime leader of Teamsters Local 237, whose nearly 24,000 members make it the largest local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Floyd represents a wide variety of public employees in New York City and on Long Island, including school safety agents, civil service attorneys and caretakers for the New York City Housing Authority. Floyd is also a vice president at-large of the Teamsters parent union and vice president of Teamsters Joint Council 16. Local 237 backed Kamala Harris for president last year, even as the national Teamsters opted not to make any endorsement.
29. Benny Boscio
Benny Boscio’s tenure leading the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association has been intertwined with Rikers Island. When he took over in 2020, Boscio opposed closing the jails complex – and given expected delays in meeting a 2027 shutdown deadline, Mayor Eric Adams recently suggested keeping it open. Boscio opposed the federal takeover of Rikers, but welcomed the City Hall’s order authorizing cooperation with federal immigration officials on cases involving violent crime. Last year, Boscio secured a generous collective bargaining agreement. In July, COBA joined other law enforcement unions in endorsing Adams for reelection.
30. Harry Nespoli
After serving the New York City Department of Sanitation for over five decades and leading the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association since 2002, Harry Nespoli retired in May. Last year, he raised safety concerns about new side-loading garbage trucks and criticized congestion pricing. Dennis Schock, the union’s vice president, will serve out the rest of Nespoli’s term. However, Nespoli remains chair of the Municipal Labor Committee, which represents major municipal employee unions and was a key player in the recently scuttled effort to move public sector retirees to Medicare Advantage.
31. Christopher Erikson
Christopher Erikson has served as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 3’s business manager for a quarter century, helping negotiate more than 150 collective bargaining agreements and improving benefits and pensions for tens of thousands of members. The New York City Central Labor Council honored Erikson for serving working families throughout his career just before Erikson celebrated IBEW Local Union No. 3’s 125th anniversary this year at the Javits Center. Erikson’s union endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary after backing Eric Adams in 2021.
32. Henry Rubio
As the New York City public school system moves to comply with a state law ensuring smaller classes, Henry Rubio of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators has been emphasizing the importance of hiring more staff. This spring, he applauded City Hall’s plans to hire more than 3,700 new teachers as part of the effort. Rubio also backed a new state ban on smartphones in public schools. He represents 6,500 principals, assistant principals, supervisors and education administrators in the city’s public schools and 200 city early childhood education directors and assistant directors.
33. James Davis
When James Davis became president of CUNY’s faculty and staff union in 2021, he sought to obtain a fair contract for its more than 30,000 workers. After two years of negotiations, during which time Davis got arrested at a trustees hearing, the Professional Staff Congress and CUNY reached an agreement in December that included 13% raises and additional parental leave. But CUNY’s challenges have not dissipated. Davis castigated President Donald Trump’s threats to pull federal funding for universities where protests have taken place, and he’s pushing for back pay for his PSC members.
34. Rafael Espinal
Freelancing may be the future of work, but Rafael Espinal is striving to implement policies that protect the evolving class of workers. Last year, the former New York City Council member helped pass the state-level Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which follows on the heels of a similar city-level measure and provides protections for freelance workers. Espinal has also lobbied for free legal assistance for freelancers. In 2022, he launched the Freelancers Hub, a free coworking space in Industry City, in collaboration with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
35. Peter Meringolo
For two decades, Peter Meringolo has helped expand the New York State Public Employee Conference to encompass more than 90 law enforcement, firefighters, sanitation, correction, court officers and transit unions. A New York City Department of Correction veteran, Meringolo fought for legislation two decades ago that protected public employees and their survivors experiencing 9/11-related illnesses This year, his conference supported state legislation that would offer peer-to-peer mental health counseling for officers, which passed in June.
36. Shaun Francois I
When Henry Garrido was reelected as executive director of District Council 37 last year, Shaun Francois I secured another term as president of the influential public sector union. In addition to his role under Garrido, Francois has also served since 2014 as president of the affiliated Local 372, the largest union within DC 37. Local 372 represents nearly 25,000 support staff within the New York City Department of Education, including health aides, lunchroom workers and crossing guards. Francois pushed successfully for automatic pension enrollment for Local 372 members.
37. Paul Capurso
The New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters had a major leadership change at the start of the year. Joseph Geiger, who had led the union as its executive secretary-treasurer since 2014, took on a new role in January as Eastern District vice president with its parent union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. As president of the New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters, Paul Capurso stepped up to be the union’s interim leader until a special election can be completed. The 30-year union veteran is an advocate for improved standards for carpenters and has argued for maintaining member deference in the New York City Council as a way to ensure local residents are protected against wealthy developers.
38. Dennis Schock
Dennis Schock has big shoes to fill as the new leader of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, also known as Teamsters Local 831, which represents more than 7,000 sanitation workers in New York City. Schock moved up to become president following the retirement of Harry Nespoli. Nespoli, who secured a favorable five-year contract in 2023, led the union for more than two decades, and remains chair of the city’s Municipal Labor Committee. Schock, a longtime vice president, will serve the rest of Nespoli’s term at Local 831 through the end of 2027.
39. Mark Cannizzaro
This summer, Mark Cannizzaro was elected as national president of the American Federation of School Administrators, which represents 20,000 public school principals, vice principals, administrators and supervisors. Cannizzaro previously was in a high-ranking role as the union’s secretary-treasurer, and he led the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators in New York during the turmoil of Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic. Cannizzaro follows in the footsteps of Ernest Logan, another former leader of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, who is now president emeritus of the American Federation of School Administrators.
40. Gloria Middleton
In a sphere that was once dominated by white men, Gloria Middleton is a trailblazing labor leader. When Middleton became president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1180 in 2018, she was the first Black woman and first woman to lead the 9,000-member union. Middleton was previously secretary-treasurer of Local 1180, one of the biggest public sector locals of CWA. It represents workers in New York City mayoral offices, at NYC Health + Hospitals and in other city and state governmental offices – as well as workers in the private and nonprofit sectors.
41. Brandon Mancilla
Brandon Mancilla’s career exemplifies the United Auto Workers’ expansion beyond car manufacturers. Mancilla started out organizing Harvard graduate students as the president of UAW Local 5118 and later assisted UAW Local 2325, which represents legal aid attorneys. Since his election to lead UAW Region 9A in 2022, he has also advocated for auto workers as well as staffers in museums, movie theaters and nonprofits. Region 9A was the first union to back Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign. Mancilla supported the July legal services strikes and has challenged federal cuts to scientific research.
42. David Bolger, Pawel Gruchacz & Anthony Vita
In 2023, David Bolger took the lead at the Mason Tenders’ District Council of Greater New York and Long Island, a construction union made up of five locals under the Laborers’ International Union of North America. Bolger got his start decades ago with Laborers Local 13 and later joined what’s now Local 79 and became a field representative for the Mason Tenders’ District Council. Today, he represents some 17,000 members, including general construction workers, Catholic high school teachers, and waste, recycling and hazardous materials handlers. In recent years, the union has secured new construction safety protections, a project labor agreement requirement on SUNY campuses and a $40 minimum wage for construction workers as part of the state’s 485-x developer tax incentive program.
Two key leaders under Bolger at the Mason Tenders’ District Council are Pawel Gruchacz, who heads up LIUNA Local 78, and Anthony Vita, who manages LIUNA Local 79. Gruchacz, who has been part of Local 78 for nearly three decades, represents 3,500 asbestos, lead and hazardous waste handlers primarily from Eastern Europe and South America and recently secured a wage increase through collective bargaining. A Polish immigrant, Gruchacz was recognized as “Man of the Year” by the Pulaski Association of Business and Professional Men and met with then-Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Vita this summer moved up to the top post of business manager at Local 79, after previously serving as its secretary-treasurer. Local 79 represents some 10,000 active and retired construction laborers handling such tasks as demolition, scaffolding and fireproofing. Vita succeeded veteran labor leader Mike Prohaska, who retired in June.
The Mason Tenders’ District Council joined other construction unions in endorsing Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor in the Democratic primary.
43. Gary Bonadonna Jr.
Gary Bonadonna Jr. played a critical role in one of the most notable organizing breakthroughs in recent years: the formation of the first Starbucks union at a location in Buffalo in 2021. Bonadonna, whose father was also a labor leader, has continued to back Starbucks workers while also spearheading organizing campaigns at the GreenStar Food Co-op in Ithaca and the Hyatt Regency hotel in Buffalo. Bonadonna’s Rochester Regional Joint Board is part of Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, and represents around 6,000 members in upstate New York and in Vermont across a range of industries.
44. James Brosi
Since 2023, James Brosi has led the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, which represents firefighter lieutenants, captains, battalion chiefs and others in the New York City Fire Department. The three-decade FDNY veteran has vowed to protect his members’ long-term health and lobbied Congress to include funding for those suffering from 9/11-related health illnesses (President Donald Trump reversed cuts to the program made in December). Brosi also sought firefighter exemptions to congestion pricing and warned of delayed responses due to the tolling program. His union endorsed Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor in the Democratic primary.
45. Lori Ames
Lori Ames leads the 30,000-member United Service Workers Union, which is headquartered in New Rochelle and is one of four national affiliates of the venerable International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades. Ames has expanded her union’s membership and added more women to the ranks of the affiliated Home Healthcare Workers of America, where she also serves as secretary-treasurer under President Joseph Pecora. Ames pushed successfully for a state law reforming warranty work for auto technicians in New York and is seeking to pass similar legislation in New Jersey.
46. Susan DeCarava
As the number of journalism jobs dwindles each year, more journalists are joining unions – and the NewsGuild of New York on the forefront of the organizing effort. Since Susan DeCarava came on as the first Black woman to serve as The NewsGuild of New York president in 2020, she has seen membership nearly triple to close to 6,000 while advocating for increased worker protections. Over the past year, the union has helped New York magazine staffers, journalists at The Atlantic and New York Times tech workers reach contract agreements, while also taking shots at Daily News owner Alden Global Capital.
47. Vincent Vallelong
Vincent Vallelong brokered a collective bargaining agreement this spring for New York City Police Department sergeants. The five-year contract, which was overwhelmingly approved by members, came after difficult negotiations and a dispute over a 12-hour tour requirement. The final deal omitted 12-hour shifts, apart from a short-term, voluntary pilot program, and ensured sergeants earn more than police officers under them. Vallelong’s Sergeants Benevolent Association, which represents 13,000 NYPD sergeants, joined a coalition of public safety unions that recently endorsed New York City Mayor Eric Adams for reelection.
48. Al Vincent Jr., Sandra Karas & Rashaan James II
The Actors’ Equity Association has a well-known name as its leader in film star Brooke Shields, but many lesser-known figures within the national labor union are also driving its advocacy on behalf of 51,000 stage actors and stage managers in New York, California and elsewhere in the U.S. Working directly with Shields is Al Vincent Jr., who has served as the union’s executive director since 2022 and splits his time between New York and Washington, D.C. A veteran of United Food and Commercial Workers, Vincent oversees collective bargaining on more than 40 national and regional contracts and is the lead negotiator with The Broadway League.
The union’s volunteer secretary-treasurer is Sandra Karas, a veteran labor leader who has been an actor as well as a tax lawyer – who combines both backgrounds by offering pro bono tax assistance to those in the entertainment industry. Karas has criticized an element of the 2019 federal tax reform law that left many actors unable to deduct business expenses – which the union argues would be remedied by the bipartisan Performing Artists Tax Parity Act.
Rashaan James II is the Actors’ Equity Association’s Eastern regional vice president. He has performed at Lincoln Center and on multiple traveling productions and teaches at the American Musical and Drama Academy and the Broadway Dance Studio. He was a judge for Miss America and Miss Teen America this year.
The union, which has nearly 18,000 members in the New York City area, recently endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor.
49. Harold Daggett
Harold Daggett made international headlines when he organized a strike for higher wages and protections for maritime workers that temporarily shut down 36 ports in the United States last fall. The International Longshoremen's Association leader, who worked as a longshoreman for over five decades and led the union since 2011, received support last year from then-President-elect Donald Trump on his stance against automation. The 85,000-member union secured a six-year contract with wage increases with the United States Maritime Alliance earlier this year (Daggett gave Trump credit for breaking the impasse).
50. Louis Civello
In the two years since Louis Civello became head of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, he set about tackling the union’s biggest challenges. After warning that the police department faced a recruitment and retention crisis last year, the police veteran negotiated a union contract that would boost pay 18% over five years. Civello also assisted in negotiations for health insurance coverage of weight loss drugs and helped raise $150,000 for an officer injured during a high-speed chase. He also became president of the Suffolk Coalition of Public Employees in 2023.
51. James Mahoney
When Gov. Kathy Hochul nominated Hector LaSalle to New York’s highest court, James Mahoney was among the labor leaders who helped block him. Mahoney, who was then president of the New York State Iron Workers District Council, has moved up into a national position as general treasurer of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers in Washington, D.C. He was succeeded by Pete Myers, who led the New York State Iron Workers District Council in endorsing Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor in April.
52. James Shillitto
James Shillitto understands that the future of labor involves adapting to the climate crisis. The utility union head has been a member of Climate Jobs New York and the Just Transition Working Group, which aims to ensure that green jobs go to unionized laborers. The union is helping Rise Light & Power workers transition Ravenswood Generating Station to an offshore wind facility and Con Edison complete a 6-mile transmission line in Queens. His negotiations with the New York Power Authority concerning Astoria’s Zeltmann power plant’s retooling are ongoing.
53. Denise Abbott
After leading the Buffalo Central Labor Council for five years, Denise Abbott took on a much larger role when she was elected president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation in July. A registered nurse at DeGraff Medical Park and longtime Communications Workers of America Local 1168 member, Abbott has supported strikes at Mercy Hospital and other labor actions. In July, Local 1168 and 1199SEIU reached a three-year agreement with Kaleida Health, which runs DeGraff. The Western New York Area Labor Federation was previously led by Peter De Jesús Jr., who left to join the state Workers’ Compensation Board.
54. Charles Murphy
Charles Murphy served as a state trooper for more than two decades before taking on the role as its top union leader in 2023. He has been cleaning up the mess of a predecessor who resigned in the wake of mismanagement allegations. Murphy told state legislators in February that he supported the governor’s public safety proposals, but that helping his overworked members and recruiting new officers were his main concerns. He also supported a bill that would offer up to 20 days of paid leave to help a trooper mentally recover after using deadly force.
55. Jose Maldonado
Jose Maldonado was elected president of UNITE HERE Local 100 in 2021 after serving as secretary treasurer and helping his union grow its membership from 4,000 to 18,000 members. Maldonado picketed with Sodexo workers at Newark Airport in 2022, helped Brooklyn Nets concessions workers avoid a strike in 2023, and secured extended health care benefits for 15,000 JFK and LaGuardia airport workers in the state budget this year. His union endorsed Adrienne Adams, followed by Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Jessica Ramos in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
56. Kuba Brown, Edwin Christian & William Lynn
Kuba Brown leads the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 94, 94A and 94B, which represents workers who maintain heating and air conditioning systems in New York City office buildings and schools. Brown, who’s the business manager and financial secretary of IUOE Local 94, is also the chair and a trustee of the International Union of Operating Engineers’ parent union. He’s the secretary treasurer of the influential Hotel and Gaming Trades Council as well, serving under Rich Maroko.
Edwin Christian has been the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 14-14B’s business manager for more than two decades and has been an IUOE international trustee since his election in 2021. Christian also serves on the executive boards of the New York City Central Labor Council and Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, and as a trustee to the IUOE’s National Training Fund. Christian’s union, which represents steel, concrete and building construction workers as well as surveyors and equipment managers, endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor in the Democratic primary.
William Lynn was reelected in May to another three-year term as the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30’s business manager, a title he has held since 2014. He joined the union 35 years ago with a mission of expanding the union’s membership and ensuring their safety. Lynn has since negotiated a contract with Weill Cornell Medical College and is working on securing language in a New York City contract to ensure apprentices receive credit for their steam machinery work. Lynn was recently elected as a co-chair of the New York State Public Employees Conference.
57. Terry Maccarrone
Terry Maccarrone ousted Daniel Levler in a landslide election this spring to take the reins of the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees, which represents more than 6,000 public employees and more than 4,000 retirees. Maccarrone had campaigned on improved transparency and collaboration with members, and he’ll be seeking a new contract with Suffolk County after the previous one expired months ago. He’ll also be navigating changes at the county’s Child Protective Services following the high-profile death of a boy amid allegations of poor oversight.
58. Chris Summers
It’s not often that workers go on strike without union authorization. But that’s what Chris Summers of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association faced this year when some corrections officers walked out to protest conditions at state prisons. The wildcat strike was halted after more than a week of negotiations, with workers winning some concessions, including temporary pay changes and the temporary suspension of a solitary confinement law workers opposed. In August, NYSCOPBA issued a report criticizing the unsafe conditions it said led to the strike.
59. Julie Bracero Kelly
Julie Bracero Kelly is the longtime general manager of the Workers United New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board and has expanded its membership of retail, manufacturing and distribution workers to 7,000 people. Kelly supported beer delivery and distribution workers who went on strike in April after failing to reach a contract with Manhattan Beer & Beverage Distributors. Kelly is also an international vice president and member of the general executive board of Workers United and a board member of Amalgamated Bank.
60. Oren Barzilay
When the New York City Mayor’s Management Report showed that 911 response times were increasing, Oren Barzilay urged the city to spend more resources to improve outcomes. Barzilay, an emergency medical technician of 30 years who has led Local 2507 since 2017, has fought for better treatment of and higher pay for his members. This year, he urged EMTs to transfer out of Manhattan to avoid the congestion pricing toll and sued the city and the New York City Fire Department for placing 82 cadets in EMT roles. His union endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary.
61. Vincent Variale
Since becoming president of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union Local 3621 in 2009, Vincent Variale has sought fair and equitable pay for the New York City first responders he represents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Variale raised alarms about the stress that emergency medical services workers experienced on the job and secured a 6% pay raise for getting trained to respond to mental health emergencies. This year, his union backed Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary. Variale has called on City Hall to raise annual wages for his members.
62. Ligia Guallpa
Ligia Guallpa is at the forefront of organizing some of New York’s most exploited workers who face dangers on the street and in the courts. Her Workers Justice Project advocated for a minimum wage standard for app-based delivery workers, which New York City passed in 2021, and has pushed the City Council to expand the law to include 20,000 grocery delivery employees. Guallpa and her peers also helped win a $17 million wage theft settlement from DoorDash for workers’ tips this year and has lobbied to improve street safety without penalizing e-bike riders.
63. Scott Munro
Reversing the New York City Police Department’s detective brain drain is a top priority for Scott Munro. The NYPD veteran, who took over the 21,000-member Detectives’ Endowment Association last summer, has decried the number of detectives falling below 5,000 citywide. Munro has also worked with outside groups to provide mental health counseling to help officers. He has warned of an exodus of cops if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor and his union joined NYC Uniformed Forces Coalition 2025 in endorsing Mayor Eric Adams for reelection.
64. Rich Nigro
Rich Nigro does not see himself leading the more than 3,800-member Buffalo Teachers Federation as long as his predecessor, who spent 42 years running the teachers union. The veteran educator won a runoff election in 2023, and he has sought to improve school safety and raise student outcomes after the union won a new contract. Nigro opposed the local school board’s $1.19 billion school budget, which was approved in March, saying it hurts students and teachers. Buffalo’s teachers reelected him to another two-year term this year with 62% of the vote.
65. Tom Haas
Tom Haas is so committed to improving the livelihoods of unionized locomotive engineers that his union shut down New Jersey Transit this spring. The 26-year locomotive veteran served as a union officer for 13 years before ascending to lead BLET in 2023. After five years of negotiations, Haas held firm in the union’s demands to raise base pay – and the engineers went on strike in May. Three days later an agreement was reached on a seven-year contract with a significant pay increase, which was ratified in July.
66. Jonathan Smith
Jonathan Smith has served as the president of the New York Metro Area Postal Workers Union for more than a dozen years. This year, he’s looking to go national, as one of two candidates seeking to be president of the American Postal Workers Union. Voting to lead the APWU, which is based in Washington, D.C., and represents more than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees and retirees, will take place in mid-September. Smith is running on a campaign of experience and openness.
67. Rich Canazzi
Last year, Rich Canazzi was appointed head of Council 66, an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees-affiliated union that represents 8,500 public service and nonprofit workers in upstate New York. The longtime Erie County electrician helped secure a contract for Auburn Community Hospital workers and supported Albany city staffers who complained about mistreatment from supervisors. The union is currently helping Rochester City School District employees who haven’t been paid over the summer because of a system error. Canazzi took over following the death of former leader Dan DiClemente in June 2024.
68. Ned Hanlon
As a member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Ned Hanlon knows when to lead and when to listen. He joined the American Guild of Musical Artists in 2009 and negotiated its contracts with the opera in 2018 and then again in 2021 as musicians returned to work. Hanlon became guild president in 2023 and has organized artists and staff at Little Island, the School of American Ballet and Perelman Performing Arts Center. This year, Hanlon secured a $5 million state budget allocation that led to a wage increase for Metropolitan Opera singers.
69. Robert Suttmann
Robert Suttmann became the American Federation of Musicians Local 802’s new president in January, but he’s no stranger to the orchestra pit. The professional trombonist has played in more than 95 Broadway musicals and the Big Apple Circus and helped the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Jazz at Lincoln Center get new contracts. Suttmann lobbied state officials to include an extra 10% tax credit for music scoring costs in its film tax credit program and condemned CBS’s recent cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as “censorship.” Local 802 endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor in July.
70. Michael Carrube
Michael Carrube has run the 4,200-member Subway-Surface Supervisors Association for over a decade and has delivered lifetime health care benefits for transit worker retirees – while opposing a recently scuttled effort to shift retirees to a controversial Medicare Advantage plan. Carrube helped get the state Legislature to pass a bill granting pension benefits to families of transit workers who are over 55 but die before retirement. Carrube was reelected in December to a third term, and he also serves as international president of the National Association of Transportation Supervisors.
71. Kurt Labuda
Kurt Labuda is the new president of the New York State Police Investigators Association, a 1,100-member labor union representing senior investigators and investigators within the New York State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Labuda has called for further changes to state legislation on bail and discovery, and he has raised concerns about inadequate staffing and recruitment. Labuda, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and succeeds Timothy Dymond, who retired late last year after 20 years with the New York State Police. Labuda was elected in July, shortly after the union reached a new contract agreement with the state.
72. Luis Alzate, Daniel Cassella, Jose DeJesus & Tomas Fret
The Transport Workers Union has a lot of sway within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but it’s not the only union representing New York City’s mass transit workers. There are also a number of local unions that are part of the more than 200,000-member Amalgamated Transit Union, which describes itself as the largest labor union for transit and allied workers in the U.S. and Canada.
Tomas Fret is the president of ATU Local 1181, the largest ATU local with some 13,000 members. Fret has testified in favor of keeping employee protection provisions in school bus contracts and improving school bus working conditions. Fret, who was reelected this summer, is the only ATU leader to sit on the executive council of the New York State AFL-CIO and is also a member of the executive board of the Long Island Federation of Labor.
ATU Local 1056’s Luis Alzate represents more than 3,000 active and retired bus operators, maintenance workers, car cleaners and other positions within the MTA’s bus system. He has opposed city legislation that would expand the use of commuter vans, which could undercut public bus transit. The 2,000-member ATU Local 726, which represents bus operators and mechanics on Staten Island, is led by Daniel Cassella. Cassella joined Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella last year to call for improved MTA bus service and fewer delays.
ATU Local 1179, which represents MTA bus operators, mechanics and supervisors who work from the Far Rockaway and JFK depots, has been led by Jose DeJesus for nearly six years. He has called for increased transit funding for buses, which often lose out to capital projects for subways or railroads.
73. Jessica Timo
Jessica Timo was selected to be the president of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153 in 2023 after her predecessor Steven Turkeltaub retired after nearly 50 years of service. The longtime United Federation of Teachers purchasing manager has organized nonprofit workers throughout the region and welcomed employees from Dēmos, American Jewish World Service and Sesame Workshop, who joined the union this year. Earlier this summer, Timo’s union issued Democratic primary endorsements of Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor, Mark Levine for city comptroller and Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Manhattan borough president.
75. Robert Croghan & Adam Orgel
Even in a union town like New York City, not all municipal employees are unionized – but the 5,000-member Organization of Staff Analysts has a history of closing the gap. The union represents New York City government employees with analyst, health systems manager and several other titles at more than 50 agencies as well as the New York City Housing Authority and NYC Health + Hospitals. The union is led by Robert Croghan, its chair, and Adam Orgel, its vice chair. Croghan started out with Social Service Employees Union Local 371 decades ago and was tasked with getting union recognition for analysts, which he achieved in 1985. Orgel, who is now the union’s chief negotiator, has brought in more than 50 additional civil service titles under union contract, including many who had been misclassified as managerial or confidential. Orgel has also helped expand the union’s welfare fund and organize staffers at the Office of the New York City Public Advocate.
75. Patrick Guidice
Patrick Guidice has fought for prevailing wage rates and stronger worker protections for Long Island’s electrical workers for nearly 25 years. This year, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1049 business manager led difficult negotiations with National Grid as the threat of a strike loomed. Guidice’s members rejected the utility’s offer in March but he was ultimately able to secure 4% annual raises in a new contract a month later. Now, Guidice is working to shore up support for the Propel NY Energy transmission line that would crisscross Nassau County.
76. Tom Tatun
Tom Tatun came aboard the Retired Public Employees Association in April with a mission to protect and enhance pensions, health coverage and other benefits for nearly 500,000 retirees in New York. He previously worked at the Nurse-Family Partnership and the Association of School Business Officials, where he coordinated with public sector unions and lobbied legislators on budget and policy. Tatun opposed moves to force retirees out of Medicare and onto Medicare Advantage and cheered New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ recent decision to not shift retired city workers to the plan.
77. Lisa Ohta
Lisa Ohta has fought not only for her Legal Aid clients but for thousands of public defenders and civil attorneys seeking labor justice. As president of the United Auto Workers’ Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, she pushed in Albany this year to expand student loan forgiveness for attorneys. This summer, Ohta helped organize a small strike as legal workers sought larger raises and limits on workloads once their contracts expired in July. In August, the union avoided a bigger strike by reaching a deal with The Legal Aid Society for more modest wage increases than they sought – but with plans to reopen talks next year.
78. Tricia Richardson
Tricia Richardson has spent two decades with the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents more than 28,000 carpenters, pile drivers and other workers in New York and New England. She has mobilized support for endorsed candidates and generated support for legislation, such as a measure expanding prevailing wage requirements. In June, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer joined Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota to tour the union’s Local 290 Training Center in Hauppauge. Richardson’s longtime colleague, NASRCC official Bill Banfield, retired in July.
79. Connor Spence
Connor Spence is no stranger to uphill battles. The head of a dissident faction within the Amazon Labor Union won a contested election last summer to succeed Chris Smalls. Spence, who is fighting his firing by Amazon for organizing workers, pledged to secure a contract for Amazon workers at JFK 8 warehouse. When the National Labor Relations Board rejected Amazon’s challenge to the Teamsters union drive, Spence applied more pressure. Workers went on strike at the Staten Island warehouse in December and rallied against unsafe working conditions this summer during Prime Day.
80. Cori Gambini
Cori Gambini has been in the middle of several labor battles to ensure safer working conditions for nurses and better care for their patients. A registered nurse for nearly 40 years, Gambini has led CWA Local 1168 since 2012 and negotiated multiple contracts. After four months of negotiations with Kaleida Health, Gambini mobilized 8,000 health care workers who authorized a strike in July over inadequate wages and staffing levels. By the end of the month, she reached a three-year agreement with Kaleida that contained better benefits and staffing improvements.
81. Constance Bradley
For nearly a decade, Constance Bradley has led the labor union representing National Grid workers in Brooklyn and Queens. As the leader of the Transport Workers Union Local 101, Bradley helped fight a proposed $9 hourly starting wage for call center workers before securing a contract with the energy utility. The TWU official also has slammed efforts to end natural gas hookups to new homes and ban gas appliances. A judge ruled this year the state can halt new hookups, while the state Legislature passed a measure making homeowners pay for gas connections.
82. Duane Wright
Duane Wright has helped Teamsters Local 317 rapidly expand its membership to include more than 4,700 food supply chain, logistics and public sector workers throughout upstate New York. Last year, the longtime union leader welcomed Saputo dairy workers into Local 317 and helped BorgWarner workers approve a contract with a total 21% wage increase over four years with the electric vehicle manufacturer after a two-week strike. This spring, Wright supported University of Rochester graduate students as his members refused to cross picket lines if they went on strike.
83. Theodore A. Moore
In the two years that Theodore A. Moore has led ALIGN, he has helped pass legislation that has compelled private employers to make their working conditions safer. The former New York Immigration Coalition staffer oversaw the coalition of labor groups that advocated for the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act, which has benefited thousands of Amazon workers since it went into effect in June. He also helped advance the public solar law, which required New York City to install solar panels on city-owned buildings, and supported the state Retail Worker Safety Act, which mandated employers adopt violence prevention plans.
84. Rossmery Dais, Donna Rey & Sandi Vito
The labor union 1199SEIU is a political powerhouse, and its benefit funds stand out for their size and their scope. The 1199SEIU Family of Funds – made up of the Benefit and Pension Funds, Training and Employment Funds, the Child Care Fund and the Greater New York Child Care Fund – provide benefits to more than 450,000 health care workers and retirees and manage a collective $2.3 billion in health care costs.
Donna Rey leads the 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds and also serves as CEO of Funds Administrative Operations. Rey manages $2.5 billion in annual health benefits and $17.8 billion in pension assets. She launched the Healthy Living initiative to support union members. She also serves on the board of the major public health information exchange Healthix.
1199SEIU veteran Rossmery Dais runs the 1199SEIU Child Care Funds, which ensures access to child care and various educational and college preparation programs, with over 400,000 children served so far. Dais co-chairs the Innovation Subcommittee of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s Child Care Working Group.
Sandi Vito oversees the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds, which includes workforce development and training programs for more than 20,000 health care workers each year. Its Career Pathways Training Program targets workforce shortage, with more than 3,000 participants enrolled in allied health higher education programs.
85. Brendan Sexton
Brendan Sexton founded the Independent Drivers Guild in 2019 after more than a dozen years with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, a major New York grocery union. Sexton has helped more than 250,000 ride-sharing workers across five states win higher wages and worker protections. He also helped disarm Uber’s threats to deactivate drivers if the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission raised pay standards. Sexton recently helped to secure raises for New York drivers and to get a city law passed to reduce insurance requirements for ride-sharing workers.
86. James Conigliaro
James Conigliaro became president of the Workers Benefit Fund last year to help workers in the gig economy secure health care and benefits. The labor veteran previously served as general counsel and chief of staff to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and was a founder and board member of the Independent Drivers Guild, which recently partnered with the Workers Benefit Fund and Akido Labs on artificial intelligence-powered medical care for ride-hailing drivers. The CEO of the Workers Benefit Fund is Nick Abramovich, who brings a business background to the organization.
87. Robert Bishop
Robert Bishop is celebrating his 20th year with Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno this year, and his team has big things planned. The venerable government affairs leader has repped New York corrections, lieutenants, sanitation and detectives unions, Teamsters councils, plumbers and transit workers unions throughout his extensive career. Bishop recently advocated successfully for 20-year retirement plans for New York City’s uniformed employees, better protections for warehouse employees and larger pensions for widows of public service employees. He also contributed to the recognition of leptospirosis as a job-related illness for sanitation workers.
88. Jason Ortiz
Jason Ortiz co-founded Moonshot Strategies with Jenny Sedlis in 2021 to provide clients with strategic campaign expertise, crisis communications and grassroots organizing. Ortiz, a member of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council brain trust and former political director for HTC, has advised the Innocence Project, the Vera Institute of Justice and the Drug Policy Alliance. He also ran a super PAC that helped Eric Adams get elected New York City mayor in 2021 and has lobbied for Mets owner Steve Cohen’s proposed casino and entertainment complex next to Citi Field, Resorts World New York City in Southeast Queens and BusPatrol.
89. Alan Klinger
Alan Klinger and his partners made the difficult decision to dissolve Stroock in October 2023 after the 147-year-old law firm was gutted by departures and its merger proposals fell through. The 41-year legal veteran then moved over to Steptoe, where he has been a partner and chair of that law firm’s Labor Group. Klinger has since been appointed as a board member of the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining. He also represented plaintiffs who sued last year in federal court to block congestion pricing.
90. Ed Draves
In his tenure since joining Shenker Russo & Clark as the firm’s government affairs director four years ago, Ed Draves has already stacked a bunch of wins. The former AFSCME legislative director and former partner at Bolton-St. Johns – where he was the firm’s point person on labor – helped get the state’s recreational marijuana legislation passed and assisted one of the first cannabis companies to win a state license. He previously helped Rush Street Gaming secure a license for its Schenectady-based casino. Among his recent union clients are Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW, SEIU 200United and the Police Benevolent Association of New York State.
91. Michael Avella
Michael Avella co-founded Dicinkson & Avella in 2009 after serving 14 years as counsel to two state Senate majority leaders and as a legislative adviser on tax and budget matters. Avella recently lobbied state officials to pay off the state’s nearly $7 billion unemployment insurance debt and raise the maximum unemployment weekly benefit from $504 to $869. He also worked with lawmakers to increase funding for health and cancer screenings for firefighters and got another bill passed that would provide Tier 3 retired firefighters with benefits that kick in after 20 years of service.
92. Jack O’Donnell
Jack O’Donnell is one of Western New York’s leading political minds, building a consulting firm with statewide reach. Since he founded O’Donnell & Associates in 2001, he has helped major corporate clients, nonprofits and labor unions map out campaign strategies, navigate state regulations and advance their legislative priorities. O’Donnell is an astute media analyst too, weighing in on the Buffalo mayoral race, the consequences of the state correctional officers’ February strike and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chances in the New York City mayoral race for television viewers and radio listeners. He also helped unions pass legislation tackling workers’ compensation fraud and updating New York’s elevator safety law.
93. Robert Ungar
For 35 years, Robert Ungar has advocated for uniformed workers in law enforcement and health care, helping protect the first responders who protect the rest of us. Ungar has represented a number of firefighter and nurses unions throughout downstate New York, including the New York State Nurses Association, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York and the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics & Fire Inspectors FDNY Local 2507. This spring, the St. John’s University alum met with students interested in careers in public service.
94. Matthew O’Connor
Matthew O’Connor’s stints as a staffer in the state Senate and Assembly position him well to represent the interests of a wide range of clients seeking action by the state Legislature and governor’s office. The Providence College alum joined the Albany government affairs firm in 2007 and has specialized in advocating for the recruitment and retention of state police and firefighters, increased health and safety training for firefighters and making public employee pensions fairer. He also served as chair and president of State Law Resources, an international network of independent law firms.
95. Adam Richardson
Adam Richardson started his career two decades ago as an attorney for the state Senate and became the main contact between organized labor and the majority conference. Today, the Albany-based lobbyist continues to work with labor groups, including the New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters and 1199SEIU. Richardson recently secured funding to help the Consortium for Worker Education continue its workforce development programs and assisted in the passage of state legislation regarding workers’ compensation fraud, contractor liability and prevailing wages for subsidized projects.
96. Jake Herring
Jake Herring joined The Parkside Group in 2018 after serving as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s top state legislative affairs aide and in the New York City Council’s finance and member services divisions. Herring was promoted two years later to lead Parkside’s Albany and New York City-based government relations team while still keeping a mix of corporate and trade association clients. Parkside has represented 32BJ SEIU, Doctors Council, UFCW Local 342 and UFCW Local 1500.
97. Karen Ignagni
Karen Ignagni has spent the past decade establishing EmblemHealth as one of the largest nonprofit health insurers in the country, with more than 3 million enrollees. The influential health insurance executive helped shape the Affordable Care Act as CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans before joining EmblemHealth in 2015. She also directed the AFL-CIO’s Department of Employee Benefits, and on her watch, EmblemHealth has served many unionized workers and government employees. She recently warned that the Republican reconciliation plan would lead to more emergency room usage and sicker patients.
98. James O’Connor
James O’Connor is commercial litigator and a legal expert on labor and employment law at Phillips Lytle, a Buffalo-based law practice. He is often quoted in the media on labor and employment law matters and has presented on developments in union organizing beyond Starbucks and Amazon. O’Connor joined Phillips Lytle in its Buffalo office in 2021 and was elected partner as of Jan. 1, 2024. The law firm has offices across New York as well as in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and in Canada.
99. Michelle Zettergren
For the past eight years, Michelle Zettergren has worked with organized labor groups to improve their members’ access to affordable health care as president of labor at MagnaCare, which is part of Brighton Health Group. The third-party administrator has sought to add new technologies, develop customized programs and promote direct provider contracting to help their labor clients. During her tenure, Zettergren and her team created LaborStrong.live, which helps union members and their allies stay updated and connect with other workers.
100. James Cahill
James Cahill is the national practice lead for labor at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he helps provide health insurance coverage to New Yorkers and specifically to New York labor unions. He also oversees Anthem’s Taft-Hartley segment, a role in which he serves all of the company’s union clients nationally. In 2022, Anthem rebranded as Elevance Health, but the name change did not impact the company’s affiliated Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans. Cahill, who grew up in a union household, has been with the company since 2018.
NEXT STORY: The 2025 Trailblazers in Building & Real Estate