With new city leadership, members speak about their future.

Kayla Mackey, Senior Coordinator, SSEU Local 371

“I’m optimistic about the new administration. Even if Mayor Mamdani doesn’t achieve everything he planned, he’s setting a tone that encourages positive change.

This year, I’d really love to see 1% allocated for Parks. There are many spaces with significant potential that could be opened with proper funding and additional staff. While we’ve been hoping for that since I began working in 2017, I hope it comes to fruition this year.

I hope that DC 37 continues to organize against threats to our constitutional rights. I have attended other rallies with friends before, but it felt powerful and purposeful to march alongside the union. When the union organizes, we send a much stronger message than individuals.”

Danielle Rutledge, Outreach Case Manager, Breaking Ground, DC 37 Non-Profit & Private Sector Division:

“My expectation is for this administration to consider the workers in Human Services. We work with the most vulnerable populations: unsheltered, mental health, and substance misuse. We have hazardous jobs and we are not paid well. We need more beds as well— it’s nice to say ‘we are building this or that,’ but it’s a two-year process to build out most affordable housing. We need beds now.

The administration needs to speak to the people on the ground doing the work, not policymakers or CEOs. Why does any CEO of these (human services) companies need to make $700K, $800K, or $900K in salary when the staff are facing housing instability or living in a shelter while working?

For the workers in the field, I hope the administration takes us seriously, treats us better as a whole, and includes us in conversations to make change.”

Heather Sessler, Library Information Assistant, 67th Street Branch of NYPL, Local 1930:

“I expect Mayor Mamdani and his team to follow through on the promises he made during the campaign and to communicate with the public when they face resistance to these changes. The administration should continue to effectively communicate with New Yorkers through traditional and unconventional channels. The recent videos explaining storm preparation and the budget process are great examples of direct, clear communication to the people.

As a library worker, I want him to allocate 0.5% of the city budget to our libraries as promised. Each year, we rally and testify at budget hearings just for enough funding to operate. Establishing guaranteed baseline funding would allow us to spend our time serving New Yorkers instead of asking for money.

Our jobs are crucial to keeping this city running, yet for many of us, our wages aren’t sufficient to live here. I, like many others, commute nearly two hours each way to serve this city. Freezing the rent, making buses fast and free, and affordable child care will help, but the city can do more by raising wages.

I expect the administration to prioritize the needs of working class and poor people. We have been neglected too long by administrations catering to the elite. I hope we come together to resist the fascist federal government and put pressure on ineffectual lawmakers. I hope we can find joy to buoy us during the dark days ahead.”

— Interviewed by Mike Lee

This article originally appeared in the January-March 2026 issue of PEPTalk Magazine.