On July 25th, Ryan Stanton sat in the first pew in the center of the crowded Suffolk County legislative meeting room, while environmentalists, union leaders, and colleagues swarmed. If you looked closely, you could see Stanton’s head in his hands as he waited for the meeting to start. He was impatient, incredulous, and determined. He’d gotten word in advance that the meeting—a hearing to vote on the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act (SCWQRA)—was not likely to advance that night. Stakeholders from different sectors had spent years working on this initiative, only to see it come to a sudden halt if the evening didn’t go as planned. That night’s vote would determine if voters would have the opportunity to decide the measure’s fate.
Despite what looked to be an uphill battle, Stanton stood out as an articulate and impassioned champion of the commonsense measure. When statements and information were taken deliberately out of context, Stanton stood up at the podium demanding that no false narrative take root. For nearly thirty minutes, he argued, directed and redirected, clarified and explained the nuances of the bill. He came armed with both facts and determination. It was a modest accounting of the facts. It wasn’t about winning. If you’ve worked with Ryan Stanton, you’ve come to learn that he holds himself to a standard of honesty and integrity.
He demands the same of those in public office.
“We can have a disagreement on the merits,” Stanton told Road Warriors. “I respect that. I think that’s part of the democratic process. What I won’t accept is lying, gaslighting, or disingenuous discourse. When I’m engaged in conversation, I will make a point to set the record straight, because it’s the disinformation that is tearing apart our country. I’m not so full of hubris to believe that I can change that trajectory by myself, but I for damn sure can hold people to account when they don’t tell the truth.”
As Executive Director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, Ryan Stanton represents the interests of the working people on Long Island. His role is to be responsive to their needs, and give voice to the challenges they face. Ultimately, the Federation is engaged in legislative and political work, support for contract campaigns, organizing drives, as well as any challenges an affiliated union faces. Their recent work alongside the Long Island Contractors’ Association, environmental stakeholders and elected officials at various levels of government to advance the Suffolk County Water Restoration Act is one example.
One might wonder, why does the union movement care about a clean water initiative? “We live on an island.” Ryan tells Road Warriors. “It’s our members’ home. Our drinking water comes from beneath our feet. For our region to thrive, we must do something about treating our wastewater. If put in front of the voters, passed, and implemented, the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act would make significant changes in the daily lives of Long Islanders. People would wake up in fifty years and realize we have transformed our region for the better!”
Stanton has taken on water quality as the core issue of our time. “Access to clean water is a national security issue. The idea that people don’t think about it that way or could be so cavalier with solutions that can legitimately tackle the problem in front of us blows my mind,” he says. “Societies fall apart without necessities like clean drinking water.” The Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act is a way we can address that challenge and simultaneously put people to work. To Stanton, this is a no-brainer. “If people are concerned about crime, let’s make sure we have an economy that supports and creates good jobs. That’s the single most effective criminal justice reform. This is an opportunity to do that.”
Although the vote was recessed for now, time will tell if the decision makers find a way to make it work. If you ask Ryan Stanton, “It just has to.”
The Labor Movement
The Labor Movement in the United States is nearly as old as the country itself. In fact, the earliest recorded labor strike happened here in New York in 1768 when tailors protested a reduction in wages. The first sustained trade organization among American workers formed in Philadelphia in 1794 as the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers). As the industrial era replaced the agrarian society before it, the need to formalize protections for workers became a rallying cry across the nation.
The union movement is the bedrock upon which safer working conditions, fair wages, benefits and reasonable hours are built upon. Labor delivered child labor laws and the weekend. Today, if somebody goes to work on Long Island, they are very likely part of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFLCIO. The Federation is a coalition of unions that represents workers in every sector of our economy: public employees, building and construction trades, teachers, nurses, healthcare professionals, the industrial sector, and manufacturers. It is the 4th largest Central Labor Council in the United States of America at nearly 300,000 members, bringing union density on Long Island in just shy of 30%, presently denser than New York City.
Stanton grew up the son of a union utility worker. He didn’t know it at the time, but this would later help inform his conclusion that the union movement is the most effective vehicle for delivering the American dream: that if you worked hard, you could have a middle-class lifestyle. “My father is a rank-and-file member of IBEW Local 1049,” Stanton says. “He’s in his early 60s. He still climbs utility poles in the heat; when storms roll in, he goes out to work. I grew up in a community where my friends’ parents were doctors or vice presidents of health systems–all well-educated. My father became an electrician. Fortunately, he had a union, so we were able to go on vacation, I had a shirt on my back, I had food on my table–I didn’t need to want for anything growing up.”
While the idea of a union career opportunity was on full display throughout his childhood, it was rarely discussed in the Stanton household. His mother and father, particularly his mother, insisted he focus on his academics so that he could attend college, the path they believed increased the likelihood of a middle class lifestyle for Ryan and his family one day. Ryan attended Binghamton University, where he studied Arabic and economics. Back in college, Ryan took advice from his family without much thought about where it would lead him. Luckily, he was surrounded by smart people who were looking after him, and he wound his way to a place where he could look out for and fight on behalf of others. “I took direction, and it was very much to my benefit. I can take no credit for making any of those sound choices. I had a good supportive family and some good, supportive people in my life who said, ‘Why don’t you consider this? They walked me to the door. I walked through it.” He continues, “Then professionally, John [Durso] and Roger [Clayman] have given me the opportunity to grow into the movement. They have given me tremendous leeway to learn and invested in me in a number of ways.”
After graduation, Stanton went into public service and started a career in government. After a few years, he concluded that the union movement was the place he wanted to be and where he could make the biggest difference for people who go to work for a living. He started at the Long Island Federation of Labor as the political director, taking the knowledge and understanding of government from his time working under Congressman Israel and Senator Schumer. “Capitalism without guardrails is really bad for working people, so there has to be a counterbalance in the workplace. The union movement is that counterbalance,” Stanton says. “Union members more often have access to healthcare and other ancillary benefits, like a retirement package, to make sure that they can retire with dignity. However, I think Covid reminded people that unions fight for healthy and safe workplaces too, and left to the devices of capitalism, healthy and safe workplaces are not a priority. It’s not a good or bad commentary on the system, it’s just the way it’s structured. It isn’t set up to prioritize safety or health. It’s set up to prioritize bottom dollar.”
The Work of the Long Island Federation of Labor
The crux of the work Ryan Stanton does at the Long Island Federation of Labor is to create a better life for all of us. This includes fighting for issues like subsidies for childcare, breaking down barriers that have traditionally limited access for all working men and women and helping to ensure that as new technologies emerge, our workforce has the support they need to transition and develop their skill sets. “Our work is also about inclusion,” Stanton says. “The union movement should reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of Long Island’s communities. The Long Island Federation of Labor and our partners in the building trades have made a concerted effort to ensure that communities that have been traditionally disadvantaged are actively recruited into the union movement. Making a union card available to everyone is making real economic change. It’s a way to fight inequality and make middle class life more accessible. That unionized workforce needs forward-looking leadership. For example, the Long Island Fed worked closely with union contractors and environmental stakeholders to secure a state commitment for nine gigawatts of offshore wind power, which has put New York State at the center of a developing market in the Northeast and the United States. That policy commitment creates certainty for the market and economic certainty drives investment.
“Our labor movement has made certain that Long Island is at the center of the emerging offshore wind industry. We are creating an industry from the ground up with good union jobs. As we begin to transition away from fossil fuels, we have to create union jobs in the process. The utility sector is essentially unionized wall-to-wall. The people who do that work own homes here, are our neighbors; they pay taxes, send their kids to school – and they’re able to do so because they earn a good living.” Stanton continued, “We have to make sure we’re creating an industry where folks can take the skills they’ve acquired over 5, 10, 15 years in the utility sector and transition to a variety of new jobs in renewable energy, not just offshore wind. We can fight climate change and create good jobs at the same time. We need an all-of-the-above energy approach, not limiting our ability to address the climate crisis and keeping all options open. In particular, we need to make sure that we keep workers front of mind when we make those decisions and when we consider new technologies.”
The Right Thing
One of Ryan Stanton’s talents are his innate ability to see the big picture and his unfaltering commitment to fight for what’s right. If he has the command of a much older, more experienced professional, it’s because he has worked diligently to find the discipline necessary to make small incremental improvements in his life. He is guided by routines, habits and rituals. Stanton is serious. His intensity could be intimidating. And yet, the impetus behind this exterior is a love for this island and the working people on it. He works within the government and political process with the hope of propelling Long Island into a more prosperous future.
“I try to bring people together to do the right thing and fight for the right causes,” he says. “If I have concluded that something is the right thing, good luck getting me to move off it.” He is comfortable with the uncomfortable and willing to confront, and sometimes creates friction to bring understanding around our shared priorities. He has demonstrated he is interested in bringing people together. “Sometimes the right thing is really hard to do,” he says. The right thing sometimes looks like standing up at a legislative hearing and demanding accountability not only of the elected officials with whom you have spent years cultivating relationships, but of yourself.