Labor stalwart John Mannion has been officially elected to the New York state senate to represent a district in the Syracuse suburbs. Mannion is the president of a local New York State United Teachers (NYSUT/AFT-NEA) union and he received steadfast support in his campaign from the Central New York Area Labor Federation and its affiliates.
A popular high school teacher in his district, he leveraged his ties with his community and his regional labor movement to secure the win. “This year we have faced unimaginable challenges—an uncontrolled pandemic, the economic uncertainty that followed and a federal government that has failed to respond….As I head to Albany next session, I hope that my work there will help restore our faith in our elected leaders and government,” Mannion wrote in an email to supporters. His election to the state senate in a close race means that pro-labor senators will hold a 43–20 supermajority in the upper house for the first time ever.