Prospect Heights

Fox wins support of unions in council bid

July 17, 2013 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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City Council candidate Ede Fox, one of several Democrats looking to succeed Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Fort Greene-Clinton Hill-Prospect Heights), is hoping that endorsements from unions will move her to the head of the pack.

Fox, former chief of staff to Councilman Jumaane Williams, recently received endorsements from the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1181, ATU 1056, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9. She officially accepted the endorsements during an announcement outside of her Prospect Heights campaign office.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181-1061, represents more than 9,000 active members who are unionized school bus drivers, school bus escorts, school bus mechanics, and MTA bus drivers throughout New York City. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1056 represents more than 3,500 active and retired bus operators and mechanics in the Transit Authority’s Queens Division of buses. International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9 is an organization of painters, decorators, wall covers, drywall finishers, sign painters, metal polishers, bridge and structural steel painters, lead abatement workers, glaziers and architectural metal glassworkers, paint makers, paint makers and allied trades.

Fox is running for the council seat in the 35th District, a district that includes Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant. James, who has represented the district since 2003, is running for public advocate.

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The union leaders sang Fox’s praises.

“Ede’s commitment to the values of organized labor and of working class New Yorkers is valued by our members and it is our firm belief that, when elected, she will continue to fight for the men and women of this union and of middle class families throughout the city,” Michael Cordiello, ATU Local 1181 president, said.

“Just like our union members that drive our city buses and keep our city moving, we are backing Ede to do the same in the City Council,” Daneek Miller, ATU 1056 president, said. “We trust that with her in the council, our city’s working families will always have someone looking out for them,” he said.

“DC 9 endorses Ede because our union members know the value of hard work and we see those values in Ede,” Jack Kittle, political director for DC 9, said.

“I am honored to have the support of the Local 1181 and DC 9 and look forward to fighting with them on behalf of middle class families in this city,” Fox said. “As a former union employee myself, I know how to bring jobs to our city. As a council member, that goal will always be a top priority,” she said.

The crowded field of Democratic candidates for the council seat includes Laurie Cumbo, a former graduate professor in the School of Art & Design at Pratt Institute, also helped establish Brooklyn’s first Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts; Democratic District Leader Jesse Hamilton; former district leader Ola Alabi; and Jelani Mashariki, the founder of Black Veterans for Social Justice. The primary is Sept. 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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