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Progressive Mondaire Jones Launches Campaign to Reclaim US House Seat
"I'm running to finish the work I began," said Jones.
Jul 05, 2023
Pledging to "finish the work" he began when he served in the U.S. House from 2021-23, former Rep. Mondaire Jones launched a congressional campaign Wednesday in New York's 17th District, more than a year after redistricting in the state pushed him to leave the district and run unsuccessfully in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The progressive attorney announced his candidacy with a video posted on social media in which he described his working-class background and highlighted his work in Congress and his former constituents offered endorsements of his commitment to ending gun violence and strengthening infrastructure.
"Some people in my party got mad at me when I tried to block members of Congress from getting rich off the stock market or when I said no to taking money from corporations," said Jones. "I have never been Washington's choice, because I stand up to corruption."
"We've got to get Washington back on the side of working people," he added. "I know we can do better."
In Congress, Jones was an outspoken supporter of Green New Deal legislation and Medicare for All before the New York state Supreme Court threw out the state Senate Democrats' congressional map on the grounds that it was unfairly partisan.
A court-appointed special master redrew the map, placing Jones in the same district as former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), a corporate Democrat who until this year chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which recruits candidates and raises campaign funds to elect Democrats.
Maloney angered progressives when he announced he would run to represent the 17th District, which includes several suburban communities north of New York City. Jones opted to leave the district and run instead in the 10th District. Both Democrats lost—Jones to Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat who largely self-funded his campaign, during last year's primary election; and Maloney to Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican, in the general election.
Speaking to News 12 Westchester on Wednesday, Jones expressed regret about forgoing Maloney's primary challenge.
"I never imagined that I would wake up one day and would have to decide against primarying a member of the Democratic party at a time when we were seeing an assault on our democracy," he said. "To that extent, yeah, I do regret not being the Democratic nominee last cycle."
Liz Whitmer Gereghty, a school board member and sister of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), is running against Jones in the Democratic primary. As Politico reported Wednesday, Gereghty "has been courting support from members of the Michigan congressional delegation."
Gereghty toldHuffPost Wednesday that she is committed to passing legislation regarding "gun control and abortion rights," but was "vague" about her position on policies aimed at addressing economic injustice.
"This is not a Washington-driven campaign or even a Michigan-driven campaign," Jones told HuffPost. "This is a campaign that is rooted in the Hudson Valley, in New York's 17th Congressional District."
Gereghty was endorsed late last month by EMILY's List, a national group that supports pro-choice female candidates, while Jones released a list of local leaders who are supporting his campaign.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which was an early supporter of Jones' 2019 campaign, said the former congressman "worked to increase opportunity for all New Yorkers, including fighting to protect civil rights, expand access to affordable childcare, and tackle climate change."
"We are confident this track record combined with his grassroots support and positive vision for a more equitable America will resonate with voters," said Mayor Annise Parker, the group's president and CEO. "With growing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and racism across our country, including within the halls of Congress, Mondaire's election is a powerful symbol of hope for our community."
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'Fantastic News for the Country!' Biden Nominates Julie Su for Labor Secretary
"She's really been a champion her entire career for all workers, regardless of immigration status, regardless of economic status," said one advocate.
Feb 28, 2023
Progressives on Tuesday applauded as U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Julie Su to succeed outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh—a choice the nation's largest federation of unions said will "continue the Department of Labor's historic legacy of pro-union leadership."
"Julie Su is a leader who stands up for dignity, safety, and fair pay for all working families including immigrant and marginalized communities," continued the AFL-CIO, calling on the U.S. Senate to promptly confirm Su, who is currently Biden's deputy labor secretary.
The president noted that before working in the Biden administration, Su "led the largest state labor department in the nation" as California's labor commissioner from 2011-18.
In that role, Su oversaw "a renaissance in enforcement activity" against employers who violated labor laws, according to the U.S. Labor Department. She launched a historic, multilingual "Wage Theft Is a Crime" campaign, using multimedia to reach low-wage workers, inform them about their rights, and encourage them to feel safe speaking out against abuses of labor law.
"Julie Su is the real deal and she will do everything in her power to put working people central to the agenda."
Years before leading California's Labor Department, in the mid-1990s as a recent law school graduate, Su helped defend more than 70 Thai undocumented immigrants who had been enslaved in a garment sweatshop in El Monte, California. The case is widely studied in law school classes and by advocates and rights organizers, NBC News reported in 2021 when Su was nominated to serve as deputy labor secretary.
"What an inspiring pick," Helen Brosnan of the advocacy group Fight Corporate Monopolies tweeted, noting Su's anti-slavery case.
Biden said Su has proven herself to be "a champion for workers" as she has "cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, created good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards."
The president selected Su after reportedly being urged by House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to nominate former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Sean Patrick Maloney, who was a member of the corporate-friendly New Democrat Coalition before losing his reelection campaign last year and who has been blamed for allowing the Democrats to lose control of the U.S. House.
"Great to hear that we won't see Sean Patrick Maloney return to power anytime soon," said organizer Joshua Sauberman.
A number of progressives strongly urged Biden to nominate Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, to succeed Walsh, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) telling the president in a letter that Nelson "has been a leading voice for worker rights and is a very strong communicator of progressive values."
Nelson has been a vocal critic of a widening gap between CEO and worker pay and was a key negotiator of provisions in the pandemic-era CARES Act, which temporarily banned airline stock buybacks and capped executive compensation.
Despite his support for Nelson, Sanders was one of the first lawmakers to respond to the news of Su's nomination, expressing confidence that she "will be an excellent secretary of labor."
\u201cI\u2019m confident Julie Su will be an excellent Secretary of Labor. I look forward to working with her to protect workers\u2019 rights and build the trade union movement in this country.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1677608523
Nelson also expressed strong support for Biden's choice, saying the nomination is "fantastic news for the country!"
\u201cFantastic news for the country! Julie Su is the real deal and she will do everything in her power to put working people central to the agenda! I am so proud of her work, her sisterhood and solidarity, her commitment to promote a labor movement for all working people! TY, @POTUS!\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1677610265
Other labor advocates shared their hope that as secretary of labor, Su will push forward efforts to strengthen workers' rights in the fast-growing renewable energy sector.
"Renewables workers—and our planet—need someone like Su at the helm of the Department of Labor to push for and deliver on much-needed change. Right now, renewable energy jobs are scaling up across the country to meet the demand of the Inflation Reduction Act's unprecedented investment in clean energy," said Matthew Mayers, executive director of the Green Workers Alliance. "But the industry still relies on low-road subcontractors and temp agencies, who frequently short-change workers and promise jobs that never materialize."
"This industry—and many more across America—will need to fundamentally change," Mayers added. "Julie Su knows this from first-hand experience. She has been a fighter to win these changes, and we look forward to working with her as we demand more and better green jobs."
Immigrant rights groups have also pushed Biden to nominate Su, with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) saying earlier this month that her "track record shows her commitment to protecting everyone's fundamental rights at work."
"She's really been a champion her entire career for all workers," Raha Wala of the NILC toldBloomberg Law Tuesday, "regardless of immigration status, regardless of economic status."
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Sanders Leads Push for Biden to Name Worker Champion Sara Nelson as Labor Secretary
"U.S. workers deserve a labor secretary that is unapologetically pro-worker," said one advocate.
Feb 16, 2023
Progressives are looking at U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh's expected departure as an opportunity for President Joe Biden to demonstrate his professed commitment to workers' rights by placing at the helm of the Labor Department a leader who will unabashedly call out the corporate greed that has left millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet in the face of historic inequality.
After hockey news outlet The Daily Faceoff first reported earlier this month that Walsh is planning to step down from the Labor Department to lead the National Hockey League's Players' Association, Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote to Biden to put forward two potential nominees, urging him to select someone who is "a champion of workers."
In a letter dated February 10, Sanders recommended former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who served for four years under former President Bill Clinton and has since written and spoken out extensively about income inequality, or Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson, one of the best-known labor leaders in the United States today.
"There are a wealth of potential avenues an ambitious, fearless, hard-nosed labor secretary may take to actually make a real material impact on the survival of the American labor movement."
"Reich," said Sanders, "would hit the ground running. He has been instrumental in advancing workplace protections, workforce development, and worker power for decades."
Nelson "has been a union member for nearly 30 years, has been a leading voice for worker rights and is a very strong communicator of progressive values," wrote the senator, who chairs the Senate committee that would hold confirmation hearings on a nominee.
"She has a thorough understanding of federal labor laws and how these laws apply to workers, and her experience sets her up for success in this job," he added.
Sanders' recommendation of Nelson was bolstered on Thursday by an opinion piece written by Fast Company editor Morgan Clendaniel, who said Walsh's imminent departure leaves Biden with "a renewed chance to fulfill his stated desire to be considered "the most pro-union president you've ever seen," as Biden promised he would be.
Nelson has spoken out against corporate greed, saying the labor movement is "the only check" against an economic system in which CEO compensation surged nearly 1,000% between 1978 and 2018, while workers were paid just 12% more on average.
\u201cThe ONLY check against corporate greed is the Labor Movement. That\u2019s why unions have been under attack - corporate elite want to remove the hurdle to having ALL the control & ALL the $. Organize urgently. Open your arms wide - the Labor Movement is for every worker. #1u #1job\u201d— Sara Nelson (@Sara Nelson) 1565785100
A deep understanding and engagement with the realities of soaring income inequality could help ensure the Labor Department is helmed by a leader who is on the side of labor, wrote Clendaniel.
"The president talks a good game for workers, and you can see the visceral thrill it gives him in speeches when he calls for the passage of thelabor-friendly PRO Act or when he met with [Amazon Labor Union leader Christian] Smalls and supported his efforts, saying, 'Amazon, here we come,'" he wrote. "But what better way for President Biden to show that he actually has labor's back than elevating Nelson?"
As a union leader, Nelson played a key role in negotiating provisions in the pandemic-era CARES Act that temporarily banned airline stock buybacks, capped executive pay, and tied rules that centered workers' rights to funding for the airline industry.
"U.S. workers deserve a labor secretary that is unapologetically pro-worker," former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, an ally of Sanders, said last week.
Former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), has also been suggested by former labor reporter Steven Greenhouse as a possible contender who could draw from his experience as a trade union organizer and leading his state's Labor Department, while Deputy Secretary Julie Su has been named as a likely interim secretary and a potential nominee for the permanent role.
The National Immigration Law Center, National Education Association president Becky Pringle, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have expressed support for Su, who previously served as California's labor commissioner and launched a statewide "Wage Theft Is a Crime" campaign.
Silicon Valley companies Uber and Lyft, which have aggressively campaigned against workers' rights legislation, are reportedly lobbying against Su's potential nomination.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is reportedly pushing the White House to nominate former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), a corporate Democrat who progressives have blamed for the party's failure to maintain control of the House after the midterms in November, as he chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the time.
"Progressives really don't want Maloney, but neither really does anyone else except Pelosi," a veteran Democratic strategist toldThe Hill Thursday. "He has literally absolutely no qualifications for this job and it's so random."
While Walsh was "incredibly" the first labor secretary to stand on a picket line alongside workers without also meeting with anti-union management, wrote independent reporter Kim Kelly at Fast Company on Tuesday, the former Boston mayor's position at the Labor Department amounted to a missed opportunity, according to critics.
Walsh sided with railroad companies over workers during negotiations regarding a contract that employees were ultimately forced to accept, even though it included no paid sick leave, and he has not addressed the Warrior Met Coal strike in Alabama, which has now been going on for nearly two years as workers demand fair pay, benefits, and working conditions.
The outgoing labor secretary "rose to power during a time when the institutions of organized labor grew sclerotic, and privately accepted their own inability to create fundamental change," wrote Hamilton Nolan at MSNBC last week. "In 2022, the percentage of workers who are union members in America declined once again."
Walsh has left the next labor secretary with "a lot of catching up to do," wrote Kelly at Fast Company. "During a moment of historically high public approval for unions and historically low union membership, there are a wealth of potential avenues an ambitious, fearless, hard-nosed labor secretary may take to actually make a real material impact on the survival of the American labor movement."
"Here's hoping we get one of those next time," she added.
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