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Concentrating on the Borough of Queens in New York City...and the neighborhoods of Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park...and Community Boards 5, 6, 9 and 10...
Showing posts with label hotel trades council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotel trades council. Show all posts
The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO is endorsing Senator Joe Addabbo for his reelection to the 15th Senate District.
Peter Ward, President of the New York Hotel Trades Council, said, “The hard working women and men of the New York Hotel Trades Council are proud to endorse Joe Addabbo. With thousands of new jobs at the upcoming Aqueduct Race Track casino hanging in the balance, Joe stood strong with our union and with his constituents, fighting to ensure that each and every one of those new jobs would be good jobs where workers are given a voice in the workplace and are treated with respect and dignity. In tough economic times like these, we need thoughtful leaders like Joe Addabbo in Albany, who see projects like Aqueduct as opportunities to create good jobs for New Yorkers and generate positive growth for the state.”
Senator Addabbo said, “It is critical that we keep up our efforts to bring good jobs to the community and revitalize the local economy. I am honored to earn the support of the men and women of the New York Hotel Trades Council, and look forward to continuing to fight for working families.”
The New York Hotel Trades Council represents approximately 28,000 non-managerial employees working in all hotel departments.
The Working Families Party congratulated today the historic victory of Queens City Council candidate Julissa Ferreras in the Special Election for the 21st City Council district.
The grassroots party played a major role in the victory, lending its staff to run Ferreras' bid to become the first Latina elected official in Queens.
“Julissa Ferreras will be a force for New York’s working families in the City Council,” said a jubilant Jose Schiffino, member of the Queens Chapter of the Working Families Party. “We endorsed Ferreras because of her tireless work fighting for responsible development and better schools, and we’re proud to have helped put her over the top.”
Working Families Party staff ran the Ferreras effort, and organizer Ted Fertik served as the campaign manager. The WFP and its affiliates, including ACORN, the Hotel Trades Council, and SEIU locals 1199 and 32BJ, together knocked on over 20,000 doors to help put Ferreras across the finish line.
Julissa Ferreras said: “Without the Working Families Party, I never would have been able to get out my message of uniting our communities. This campaign was about fighting for all of us, and I was proud to have the WFP with me every step of the way.”
The Working Families Party has helped elect dozens of City Councilmembers, including Letitia James, who became the first victorious third party Council candidate in decades in 2003.
In 2008, the Working Families Party received over 210,000 combined votes across New York for its Congressional candidates.
A Queens state Supreme Court Justice today upheld a ruling by elections commissioners that tossed Frank Gulluscio off the ballot for the upcoming 32nd CD special election in which Gulluscio had hoped to win the Queens seat of his former boss, Sen. Joe Addabbo.
However, in a rather odd twist, Justice Phyllis Orlikoff Flug didn't cite the Gulluscio's lack of valid signatures, which was what led the elections commissioners to bounce him in the first place.
Instead, Flug ruled that Gulluscio should remain off the ballot due to "failure of service," which, as far as I can tell, means the process server who was supposed to serve notice on the individuals who objected to the candidate's petitions didn't follow the rules properly.
In this case, according to someone who was in the court today, the server failed to affix the notice to the door of the individual being served. Instead, according to the objector, the notice was inside the door and not ON it.
Such are the nit-picky details - along with improper wording on petitions and picking a symbol for one's made-up party that doesn't conform with Election Law - that can cost a candidate his one shot at being a councilman.
The same source said he expects Gulluscio to run again in September when Addabbo's seat comes up (recall that defending a seat in a general election against one's erstwhile special election opponent isn't necessarily an easy undertaking - just ask former Councilman Anthony Como).
Nevertheless, this is a blow to Gulluscio and also to Addabbo, who had endorsed his former staffer's bid to succeed him. (Not to mention the Hotel and Motel Trades Council, which endorsed Gulluscio, too).
Former Sen. Marty Connor, an election attorney working for another 32nd CD candidate, Geraldine Chapey, said he has dropped his effort to get Eric Ulrich off the ballot.
Gulluscio accused Chapey of foul play in hiring Connor, saying in a prepared statement:
"The idea that this is a system meant to uphold democracy is preposterous when the signatures of thousands of voters can be rendered meaningless by a legal technicality. We must demand that we have a system where the will of the people cannot be overturned by lawyers."
"Geraldine Chapey has been on what can only be described as a witch hunt, dragging her opponents into court, causing us hours of wasted time and thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees."
"She obviously feels that the only way she can win is to eliminate the competition using her lawyer, rather than in a fair election by the will of the people. I cannot imagine that the voters of the 32nd Council District would want to be represented by someone like that."
Gulluscio pledged to pursue "all options" that will allow him to "continue to serve" 32nd CD residents.
The case of yet another candidate for Addabbo's seat who was pushed off the ballot by elections commissioners last week, Glenn DiResto, will be heard tomorrow.
The Hotel and Motel Trades Council, which has been steadily beefing up its political profile over the past year, has issued its second endorsement in the Feb. 24 City Council special elections, backing Frank Gulluscio in the 32nd CD.
Gulluscio is former aide to the man whose seat he's trying to land, now-Sen. Joe Addabbo, and district manager of Community Board 6. The HTC's decision to support him should come as no surprise, as the union was a big supporter of Addabbo, who has endorsed his former staffer.
Also running in the 32nd are: Geraldine Chapey, Glenn DiResto, Mike Ricatto (although his bid has been hobbled by a recent fatal accident in which a 9-year-old boy was struck and killed by his campaign bus), Lew Simon and Eric Ulrich.
The special elections are nonpartisan, but the GOP is hoping it has a shot at boosting its numbers on the Council back to three with Ulrich's candidacy.
The HTC has 30,000 members in the metro area, including 12,000 in Queens and some 600 in the 32nd CD.
New York Hotel Workers Union Endorses Gulluscio for City Council
Over 600 Members Pledge to Work Hard in Queens Special Election
NEW YORK – The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO (HTC), a 30,000-member union, today announced its endorsement of Frank Gulluscio for New York City Council in the 32nd District. The union plans an aggressive field program to communicate with its members and recruit volunteers for the campaign.
The special election to fill the vacancy in the 32nd District has been scheduled for February 24.The district includes Broad Channel, Howard Beach, OzonePark, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, and parts of the Rockaways.
“For years, Frank Gulluscio has been a fighter for quality jobs and responsible development in Queens,” said HTC President Peter Ward. “In these perilous times, when thousands of New Yorkers are losing their jobs and facing hardships we haven’t seen since the Great Depression, the 32nd District needs a leader like Mr. Gulluscio on the City Council. He has the experience and commitment to be a leader in the fight for economic recovery that will lift the bottom up and provide genuine stability for working families,” Ward said.
The union’s decision was based on Gulluscio’s strong record as a community leader and his record as an advocate for issues of concern to its members. Gulluscio’s many years of service as District Manager for Queens Community Board 6 and a Democratic Party leader have given him a deep understanding of how to represent the diverse issues that make a difference to district residents, such as over-development, quality jobs, and affordable housing.
“Families in Queens need to have someone with Frank Gulluscio’s commitment to quality jobs, responsible development, and equitable economic recovery fighting for us on the City Council,” said Doris Gomez, an HTC member and Howard Beach resident who works at the Doubletree Hotel at JFKAirport. “He has worked hard for the people of this community for years,” continued Gomez. “As a union member and Queens resident, I am proud that we are supporting Frank Gulluscio to be our next councilmember.”
“I am so proud to have the support of the Hotel Trades Council and its members,” said council candidate Frank Gulluscio. “With the power of working people behind this campaign, we will truly be able to deliver on our mission of create a voice for working families on the City Council in this period of economic recovery. I am confident that, working with HTC and the members in my district, we can ensure that our community comes out of this economic crisis stronger and more vibrant than it was before,” Mr. Gulluscio said.
HTC has 30,000 members in the metropolitan area, including 12,000 in Queens and 600 in the 32nd Council District. It is New YorkState’s second-largest private-sector labor union. A few weeks ago, HTC was the first union to endorse Julissa Ferreras in the 21st Council District race.
