FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2018
Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259
RWDSU ENDORSES CUOMO FOR GOV.
STATEMENT FROM STUART APPELBAUM: RETAIL, WHOLESALE AND DEPARTMENT STORE UNION ENDORSES ANDREW CUOMO FOR GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
RWDSU, First Union to Endorse Governor Cuomo’s Third Term
NEW YORK, NY – Today, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), announced the union’s endorsement of Governor Andrew Cuomo in his bid for a third term. The RWDSU is the first union to announce support for the Governor, and was the first to support him in his first campaign for Governor, and also first in his race for Attorney General.
“The RWDSU is proud to endorse Andrew Cuomo for a third term as Governor of the State of New York.
“At a time when we have serious concerns about what is going on in Washington, DC, Governor Cuomo has proven that you can govern effectively, and advance progressive change in a unifying manner.
“Not only has he ended the dysfunction that he found upon taking office, making government work again, and has improved our state’s infrastructure rebuilding bridges and airports, but he has also achieved progressive goals that many mistakenly believed might be unachievable.
“After a Democratic controlled state senate failed to enact marriage equality, Governor Cuomo worked with a Republican state senate to make same sex marriage the law of New York before the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit.
“Look at the minimum wage – we were the first in the nation to enact a $15 minimum wage, and to do it in a bi-partisan way. This has been, and continues to be, a major progressive goal.
“And he has established paid family leave, proposed statewide scheduling reforms to protect workers and their families, and has called for a review of the sub-minimum wage that tipped workers – including car wash workers – receive.
“As a progressive union, we have a shared vision with Governor Cuomo. Not only has he articulated our agenda, he has accomplished progressive reform. It is not enough to articulate an agenda, you need to have the ability to achieve it and make it real. He has done that.
“The RWDSU was the first union to have endorsed Andrew Cuomo when he ran for Attorney General. In that role, He fought wage theft and injustices committed against working people and the people of this state.
“We urged him to run for Governor in 2009, before he declared.
“And we today endorse Andrew Cuomo for the fourth time - this time for a third term for governor. At a time when New York needs to show the country an alternative way, Andrew Cuomo has become our standard bearer.
“Two good terms deserve a third,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).