FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2019
Contact: Chelsea Connor | cconnor@rwdsu.org | 347-866-6259
RWDSU ENDORSES COUNCILMAN RORY LANCMAN FOR QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Appelbaum: “Rory is the candidate of working people in the race for District Attorney”
QUEENS, NEW YORK: Councilman Rory Lancman, a candidate for Queens District Attorney, announced the endorsement of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and their 45,000 members in New York.
“Rory Lancman’s time in the State Assembly and the City Council has shown he is one of the most effective advocates for working people in Queens,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). “Our union represents and organizes the most vulnerable and marginalized workers in our city today. Rory is the candidate of working people in the race for District Attorney. Rory has the clearest vision to support workers’ rights. He has pledged to build a new unit in the District Attorney’s office to combat rampant wage theft and protect workers from injury, harassment and discrimination. Rory’s 15 years of experience as a lawyer helping workers facing these same pervasive workplace issues is proof he is the right person to lead the way. We are ready to get to work electing Rory Lancman as the next Queens District Attorney.”
“I’ve dedicated my career to fighting for working New Yorkers, and it’s a great honor to have the backing of the RWDSU,” said Councilman and candidate for Queens District Attorney Rory Lancman. “Together, we can refocus the District Attorney’s office to ensure that the people of Queens finally have a true leader with experience in the fight for workers' rights.”
Before being elected to public office, Rory Lancman spent the better part of fifteen years as a workplace rights lawyer representing victims of employment discrimination and harassment, wage theft, and workplace injury. While serving in the State Assembly, where he chaired the Subcommittee on Workplace Safety, and in the City Council, Rory has consistently stood up for working people in their right to organize and collectively bargain for fair wages, safe working conditions, and retirement security.
Lancman’s longtime defense of worker rights has earned him the formal endorsement of unions representing tens of thousands of workers, including: IBEW Local 3, District Council 1707, International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 891 and 94, Teamsters 813, Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local Union #1 New York, Workers United, NY/NJ Regional Joint Board (SEIU), NYC Allied Printing Trades Council NY NJ CT, and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) Local One.
Councilman Lancman was the first to announce his candidacy for District Attorney because Queens can’t wait any longer for real criminal justice reform -- for an end to the overpolicing and mass incarceration of communities of color that marks the New Jim Crow, and for renewed focus on protecting working people, women, immigrants, homeowners, and tenants. As chair of the City Council Committee on the Justice System, he has jurisdiction over the City’s five district attorneys, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, and the courts. His hearings, budget actions, and legislation have been on the leading edge of criminal justice reform.
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