THIS WEEK'S  

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Union endorses Eric Schneiderman for New York State Attorney General

Filling the shoes of Andrew Cuomo as New York State's top law enforcement officer will not be an easy job, but the union firmly believes that State Senator Eric Schneiderman is up to the task. The union endorsed Schneiderman for New York State Attorney General at a City Hall press conference on July 20.

"In a crowded field of Attorney General candidates Eric Schneiderman stands out as the clear choice to bring justice to the working men and women of this state," union President Peter Ward said, as members standing on the steps of City Hall applauded. "As a lawyer, lawmaker and activist, Eric has never wavered in his commitment to protecting consumers, working for quality jobs and taking on tough fights on behalf of the men and women of New York. He will be a smart, progressive Attorney General who will always stand up for what's right," Ward added.

Eric Schneiderman's track record is a clear indication that our union has endorsed a solid candidate. He is a lifelong progressive public servant. He attended Harvard Law School and then clerked for two years in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He later entered private practice and became a partner at the firm of Kirkpatrick and Lockhart.

While in private practice, Eric Schneiderman served as counsel to a long list of advocacy and public interest organizations. As an example, he represented the West Side Crime Prevention Program for more than 10 years, using innovative legal tools to evict drug dealers and clean up crack dens. As a founder of the Attorney General's Anti-Crime Advocates program and a member of the board of the Lawyer's Committee on Violence, Schneiderman recruited and trained private attorneys to represent community groups striving to protect their neighborhoods from crime.

There's more. Schneiderman served as a legal advisor to the Clean Money, Clean Elections campaign for public financing of elections, and acted as lead attorney for the Straphangers Campaign in that fine organization's lawsuits against the MTA.

Schneiderman was elected to the New York State Senate in 1998, and his performance there can only be described as exemplary. He played a key role in the union's fight to secure agreements at the Shinnecock Indian Nation's planned casino, as well as the casino planned for Aqueduct racetrack. His help in these two union victories means that these 2,000 new jobs will be union jobs.

Schneiderman also worked hard to help the union pass groundbreaking legislation outlawing illegal hotels This law will stop landlords from illegally renting apartments as hotel rooms. This illegal practice clearly threatened the prosperity of union hotels because the illegal hotels were charging lower room rates and paying their employees substandard wages to work in unsafe conditions.

Schneiderman also performed crucial work in helping to pass the Clinic Access Bill, hate crimes legislation, the Women's Health and Wellness Act, legislation to increase the state minimum wage, and a host of anti-illegal gun, environmental and civil rights laws."

There's still more. Schnediderman has been recognized for his work on legislation protecting freedom of choice, fair funding for public schools, ethics reform, and the expansion of affordable health care for all New Yorkers. He has been a leading advocate for rational and effective gun laws, and serves as national co-chair of Legislators Against Illegal Guns.

As a State Senator, Schneiderman also helped lead the way to sweeping reforms to the notoriously unfair Rockefeller Drug laws, statutes that the Hotel Trades Council had repeatedly fought to repeal. These reforms, which were announced in Hotel Voice when they were enacted, included an unprecedented expansion of drug treatment as an alternative to prison, gave judges more discretion to divert non-violent drug-addicts to treatment, and increased penalties for drug kingpins.

Scneiderman's record of public service is indeed an impressive one, as Ward noted in announcing the union's endorsement.

"This was a field of many good candidates, all of whom courted us tirelessly," Ward said, "but in the end, Eric Schneiderman rose above the rest as someone who will be a fantastic Attorney General."

Ward noted some of the issues important to our members and their families where Schneiderman has stood alongside our union. They include quality jobs, public education, affordable housing, responsible development, public safety and economic justice. They also include taking on mortgage fraud and the foreclosure crisis, protecting immigrants from deceptive business practices, reforming Wall Street and fighting insurance industry abuses. Most of all, they include a thorough understanding of the critical importance of the tourism and hospitality industry to New York.

"Eric understands that the hospitality industry is one of the city's most dependable and dynamic engines for economic growth," Ward said. "Eric's recognition of this fact is extremely important for our members and their families."  Schneiderman spoke directly to the scores of members of our Union who were present for the press conference. "I thank you, the members of this remarkable Union, for your support," he said. "As Attorney General, I will continue my lifelong record of advocacy on behalf of working families and fighting for social justice. You can count on me to protect consumers and stand up for working families every day as Attorney General." The members cheered his remarks.

The union's endorsement of Schneiderman is part of a growing list of elected officials, labor unions and progressive organizations that are backing him for Attorney General. The list includes Members of Congress Jerry Nadler, Yvette Clarke and Jose Serrano, NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

"During his decade-long tenure in the New York State Senate, Eric Schneiderman has been a committed ally of the members of our Union and their families. He has never backed down from his commitment to working families," Ward concluded. "We expect that he will have the same type of exemplary record as the next Attorney General of New York!"

To read the New York Daily News' coverage of our endorsement of Eric Schneiderman, click here.

To read the Times Union's coverage of our endorsement, click here.

To read the WNYC's coverage of our endorsement, click here.