(GREECE, NEW YORK) – Simply put, after years of watching and dealing with what he describes as “cronyism, nepotism, ‘pay-to-play’ politics and Anti-Union” business dealings - as well as having encouraged so many others in the local Labor Movement to get involved and run for public office, Rochester & Genesee Valley AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President Dan Maloney decided to put his money where his mouth was.

And now, this Tuesday (June 25th), Maloney - who also serves as President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1097 in Rochester, will be a write-in candidate on the Independence Party Line in the June Primary Election as he looks to move forward into the November Election for the Sixth District Seat on the Monroe County Legislature.

“This is an ‘uphill’ battle (having to be a write-in candidate), ‘but it is worth it and it is important Labor gets involved,’” Maloney told WNYLaborToday.com.  “(Labor Candidates) ‘have to run and take over seats (held by Republican and Anti-Union incumbents) so we don’t have to fight fights like we’ve done with the (U.S. Supreme Court) Janus ruling.’  ‘It seems (every decision, like doling out taxpayer dollars to fund a project) always comes back to the business community.’   (Organized Labor) ‘can help change that.’”

Urged by Democratic Monroe County Executive Candidate Adam Bello to run for the Sixth District Seat in an effort to help flip the Republican-controlled Legislature (the GOP has a 16-13 margin, Maloney said), the Democratic Party-endorsed Maloney is running against three-term incumbent Republican Fred Ancello.  Maloney’s also been endorsed by the Working Families Party (WFP) and has secured the Libertarian Line, while receiving a waterfall of endorsements from a variety of Labor Unions and Organizations across the Rochester Region.

While he said he did not receive a “fair endorsement” process from the Independence Party, Maloney was able to get enough signatures to be a write-in candidate for a district that encompasses all of the Rochester Suburb of Greece, which leans “slightly Democratic.”

“There are (500) Independent households in Greece and ‘I’ve knocked on every door,’ meeting with voters or leaving a palm card with my information.  ‘It’s the first time there has ever been an Independence Party Primary in Greece’ - and ‘believe it or not, there was only one person who I interacted with who said they would never vote for a Democrat because of all that’s happening in Washington (D.C.),’” Maloney tells Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.

The nearly 57-year-old Maloney has served as President of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, whose affiliated Member Unions combine to represent more than 100,000 Members across the region, for the past five years.  In addition, he is President of UAW Local 1097, which represents 900 Workers at the General Motors Company’s Rochester Products Division - a position he’s held since 2006.

On his campaign’s Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/danmaloneyLD/), Maloney posted the following: I spent the majority of my career striving to improve the lives of Working People, as an elected Union President and as a community volunteer.  My experience in contract negotiations and my work in community service prepared me well for elected public office.  I have worked at General Motors for 35 years as a Machine Operator and as a Journeyman Machine Repair Technician.  Now it is time to move from fixing broken machines and move to repair our broken county government.  My wife, Robin, and I have been married for 37 years and raised four children here in Greece.  We want our grandchildren to have good educational and job opportunities, so as they grow, they can stay here in the community we love.  I have been an outspoken advocate for Green Energy Jobs to sustain long-term economic development here in Monroe County.  I am currently working with elected officials at the Federal and State level to land infrastructure investments and manufacturing job incentives for hydrogen fuel cell technologies to create a rising economic tide. This Made in Monroe County Technology should be the key to job and income growth for our region for many years to come.  If we elect the same people in county government, we will get the same results: job loss; economic decline; increasing poverty rates; and population exodus.  We can turn this around and rebuild our economy and clean up our environment.  We can build a sustainable future for our families.  It will be my pleasure to continue to build a coalition between elected office holders, the business community, Labor and community groups to secure a bright economic future for Monroe County.  That is why I am running for office, and with your support, we'll get the job done.

Asked to elaborate, Maloney told WNYLaborToday.com: “I’ve ‘seen what has been going on (within the Monroe County Legislature) - the cronyism and nepotism, the pay to play, a multi-million-dollar Anti-Union law firm that was given taxpayer dollars to move from downtown out to the suburbs with no job creation in return.’  It’s ‘all a waste of tax dollars.’  I look at their Staffs and ‘they’re bloated.’  (Legislators) oversee a ($1.2 billion) budget ‘under one-party rule.’  They ‘crow about their flat tax rate, but if I look at my tax bill, I pay more.’  ‘They don’t tell you that (property) assessments are being raised.’  ‘There is a lot of wastefulness.’  ‘We need to break everything down to see where the money is going.’”

This is not Maloney’s first run for public office.  In 2009, he ran for the Supervisor of Greece’s office.  He lost a close race, falling by just under 400 votes.  In this current run for the Monroe County Legislature, that experience, he believes, will “benefit” him.

But his decision to run is underscored by the Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation’s recent efforts to start a candidate school for interested Union Leaders and Members, which is helping groom those within Organized Labor for many more campaigns on many levels.

“We are ‘doing just that,’” Maloney said.  “We ‘need people who know about Labor issues hitting the floor running.’  ‘We are encouraging our Members to run - and, who am I to refuse?’”

But back to Tuesday’s primary, Maloney will be walking Greece’s neighborhoods, knocking on doors and talking to Independents across the district. 

“We’ll be asking them to ‘take that extra step,’ he said. “To take my palm card in with them, ‘because if they are even one letter off (his name), it doesn’t count.’”

For More On Dan Maloney, Read WNYLaborToday.com’s Labor News Report, Headlined: United Auto Workers Local 1097’s Dan Maloney Elected New President Of The 100,000-Member Rochester-Genesee Valley AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation At www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2015/09/15/state-national-labor-news-archive/united-auto-workers-local-1097-s-dan-maloney-elected-new-president-of-the-100-000-member-rochester-genesee-valley-afl-cio-area-labor-federation/