New York, NY – After 40 years of service to 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, including a shutdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, 32BJ President Kyle Bragg has announced his retirement. Former Secretary-Treasurer Manny Pastreich became the union’s new president.
After the passing of Figueroa, Bragg was ejected by the 32BJ Executive Board in 2019 and re-elected by union membership in 2021. Under Bragg, 32BJ played a vital role in the election of Mayor Adams, President Biden, and New York City’s historic majority women’s Council, including Speaker Adrienne Adams, the first Black female Speaker of the city’s legislative body.
In 2019, 32BJ successfully negotiated the 2019 commercial contract, which raised standards and wages for workers in New York. Bragg also oversaw the union’s successful advocacy for airport workers that led to the passage of the landmark Healthy Terminals Acts in New York and New Jersey, which provided comprehensive health coverage and improved wages to tens of thousands. This was followed in 2022 with another historic contract for 32,000 New York essential residential building service workers who were critical in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I will be forever grateful and honored to have had the chance to lead 32BJ as its President,” said Kyle Bragg. “Serving at the very top of this incredible organization represented the culmination of a four-decade-long career in the labor movement. From the first day I walked through the 32BJ doors, it was clear this union did not back down from a righteous fight.”
