Mario Cilento Elected President of the New York State AFL-CIO

ALBANY, NY (12/16/2011)(readMedia)-- Today, Mario Cilento was unanimously elected President of the New York State AFL-CIO by the organization's Executive Council. He assumes leadership immediately. Cilento succeeds Denis Hughes who announced his retirement plans last month.

Upon taking office, Cilento said, "I am honored, humbled and feel incredibly privileged to have been elected President of the New York State AFL-CIO. The labor movement in this state has always risen to the challenges laid before us. Together, as one movement, we will once again meet those challenges, and provide a brighter economic future for all working men and women."

Cilento said his focus will be harnessing the collective power of the labor movement's 2.5 million members statewide. "Make no mistake about it, this is a statewide movement. From Buffalo to Montauk and everywhere in between we will create a groundswell of activism to educate our members on the issues of the day, and as a result, be better able to mobilize them."

"The framework for our political campaigns is already in place. That framework will serve as a model for a year-round legislative action network to educate our members, as well as elected officials in their home districts on a regular basis, on the issues important to working men and women. We will use traditional methods like member-to-member initiatives, but also employ technology and social media to reflect the modern political landscape."

President Cilento thanked the Executive Council and laid out some of his priorities. "The growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots is economically unsustainable. Our state and our country rises and falls with the strength of the middle class. We must create and retain good jobs that provide financial security both now and in retirement. We must also ensure that there is adequate state revenue to support economic development and new construction, education, health care, and other vital services upon which working people rely."

"All too often the cynics will focus on what makes us different," Cilento said. "We will focus on what unites us: the belief that all workers deserve a decent living for their hard and honest labor. When we work together, members from the public sector, private sector and building trades, and members from all regions of this state, we are an unstoppable force."

Denis Hughes, who Cilento thanked for his leadership over the years, said, "Mario Cilento knows the labor movement inside and out. He has the knowledge, determination, and temperament to be a strong leader. He can listen and understand seemingly divergent needs and build consensus."

Cilento, a member of the Newspaper Guild-CWA since 1990, has been with the NYS AFL-CIO for nearly twenty years. As Chief of Staff for the last twelve, Cilento coordinated the day-to-day and long-term political, legislative, communications, and grassroots strategies of the organization, as well as the overall policy development by its staff departments.

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