Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) welcomed Peter De Jesus Jr., President of the Western New York Area Labor Federation (WNYALF), AFL-CIO, to Washington, DC as his guest at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
Higgins said, “From hospitals & factories to classrooms & construction, workers are the backbone of our economy, and the state of our union is only as strong as our people. I’m proud to welcome a champion for working people, Peter De Jesus, as our State of the Union guest.”
In March of 2021, Peter De Jesus was elected as the fourth President of the Western New York Area Labor Federation (WNYALF), AFL-CIO. The organization represents 165 affiliated unions with over 140,000 members. It includes five Central Labor Councils: Buffalo/Erie County; Cattaraugus/Allegany Dunkirk; Jamestown; Niagara/Orleans.
De Jesus grew up knowing the value of hard work. His grandfather worked for Conrail and his grandmother worked at Buffalo China. He lived in West Buffalo and graduated from Grover Cleveland High School. He went on to work at the General Motors and Alleghany Technologies plants in Lockport, as well as the Tonawanda tire plant, which is now owned by Sumitomo. Working in these factories is where he first became involved in Union activities. Before becoming the WNYALF’s first minority president, he served as a Field Coordinator for the federation, as well as Political Coordinator for 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In his leadership roles, Pete, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has led discussions and action around the values of diversity, equity, and anti-racism within the labor movement.
In December 2021, De Jesus hosted a Federation-wide meeting, bringing together labor leaders in Western New York with U.S. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh.
In 2022 Western New York was awarded a grant totaling $25 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, which was funded by the American Rescue Plan. The grant will support the growth of Western New York’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem through workforce, innovation, and infrastructure projects.
Thanks to historic legislation like the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, Higgins is working to bring good-paying jobs to the Buffalo-Niagara region involving skilled trades, manufacturing, and technology of the future, creating economic opportunity that will have a transformational effect on Western New York.
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