ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO (NOVEMBER 8, 2023) – City of Roswell employees represented by the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) helped propel four candidates to victory in Tuesday’s elections to the Roswell City Council.
Candidates endorsed by the UWUA and allied unions in the New Mexico Federation of Labor (NMFL), AFL-CIO won election in these four City Council seats:
Ward 1 – Juan Oropesa
Ward 2 – Will Cavin
Ward 3 – Matthew Chappell
Ward 5 – Carlos Marrujo, Jr.
“We are pleased to have done our part to help elect four outstanding candidates to the City Council,” stated Rene Otero, president of UWUA Local 51, which represents the city’s hourly blue-collar employees. “We look forward to working with the new City Council to move the best interests of Roswell’s working families to the top of the Council’s priorities.”
Immediately after City Council candidates declared their intent to run this summer, the UWUA launched a comprehensive screening process to identify the strongest candidates who support working family issues, and then facilitated endorsement of those candidates by the state-wide NMFL labor coalition.
After securing that endorsement, UWUA members and their allies put boots on the ground to elect these pro-worker candidates. The union’s grassroots campaign activities included a series of mailings to all union voters throughout the city, home visits to union households in all five wards, and a phone bank staffed by UWUA volunteers across the country urging Roswell’s union families to turn out to vote.
“UWUA members in Roswell proved once again that workers’ voices matter, and that union votes can make a huge difference in electing the leaders whose decisions affect the quality of life for working families in our communities,” said James Slevin, UWUA National President.
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UWUA and Local 51 represent the hourly employees in the City of Roswell who deliver essential services every day to the city’s residents, including water and wastewater, sanitation, streets, parks and recreation, transit, and other critical public services.
Chartered in 1945, the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), AFL-CIO represents 45,000 active members employed in America’s utility and public service sectors including the electric, gas, water, and related professional and service industries. For more information visit https://uwua.net.