November 5, 2014
By Marc Bussanich
New York, NY—Union members in the public and private sector were fanning out across the city on Election Day to volunteer for their endorsed candidates. On Manhattan’s West Side, the Hotel Trades Council and the Teamsters were putting their political muscle to work for the Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul ticket.
In the accompanying video, we spoke to a couple of Hotel Trades Council members who were heading Uptown to pass out brochures to the voting public and explain why they think Cuomo is the best candidate for governor in New York.
Husto Cruz said Cuomo was the right vote for working folk.
“Everything Cuomo has done has been great for New York and has been great for the union. I just hope that he can get back to the office and continue finishing what he has already started,” said Cruz.
When we asked how they would respond if a member of the voting public told them they had no intention of voting for Mr. Cuomo, Ms. Yvonne Arias said she believes most people would be voting for the Governor.
“I think they’re going to vote for Cuomo. If you’ve been following him as we did yesterday at Times Square, the way he spoke, I don’t really think anyone would question why we would vote for him. That’s my opinion,” said Arias.
The Teamsters were also passing out campaign literature nearby. Alex Moore, spokesman for Teamsters Joint Council 16, said this election was an important one for working folk.
“We represent 125,000 workers here in downstate New York and we’re getting out for our endorsed candidates to make sure that we pass the Dream Act, that we increase the minimum wage and that we have a State Senate, State Assembly and a governor who are going to fight for working people,” said Moore.
@marcbuss marc@laborpress.org
