NEW YORK (Diya TV) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has established a Mayor’s Office of Worker Power aimed at helping workers understand their rights, connect with labor organizations and participate in the development of city workplace policies.
Mamdani signed Executive Order No. 20 on Sept. 3 and publicly announced the new office Sept. 7. His administration describes it as the first municipal office of its kind in the country.
The office, known as MOWP, will operate within the mayor’s office under Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. Veteran labor organizer Tony Perlstein was appointed its first executive director.
Perlstein most recently served as a director in the United Auto Workers’ organizing department and previously worked as a longshoreman and union official in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
MOWP will conduct worker outreach, hold public hearings, provide referrals to worker organizations and help develop research and policy proposals based on workplace issues. Its focus will include immigrant workers, gig and platform workers, worker misclassification and workplace risks related to extreme heat and other climate conditions.
The executive order separately directs the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Taxi and Limousine Commission and New York City Commission on Human Rights to develop procedures for investigating potential workplace violations even when no individual complaint has been filed.
Those agencies are instructed to prioritize employers with histories of labor violations or other signs of poor compliance, particularly businesses employing large numbers of low-wage workers. The order also calls for greater information sharing among city enforcement agencies.
The order includes provisions directing agencies to protect workers who report violations from retaliation or discrimination based on immigration status and other protected characteristics.
Mamdani said the new office is intended to connect workers with information and organizations that can assist them in exercising workplace rights. The administration said MOWP is designed to work alongside existing unions and worker centers rather than replace them.
The executive order took effect immediately. The administration had not released detailed staffing or budget figures for the new office as of its announcement.
