Unions, City Council members call for more DCWP funding

Workers, union leaders and politicians rallied on the steps of City Hall Monday to call for increased funding for the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), which investigates exploitative labor practices and enforces worker protections in the city. 

The rally comes after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preliminary budget for the next fiscal year proposed an 8 percent cut to the department, from $82 million to $75 million. Representatives from a myriad of unions joined, including residential building services workers union Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and United Auto Workers Region 9A, to call for a budget of $135 million and more staff for the department.   

On the campaign trail as recently as three months before his inauguration, Mayor Mamdani pledged to double the budget of the department, in recognition of its key regulatory role. As mayor, Mamdani has also consistently highlighted the work of DCWP in eliminating hidden hotel fees, probing exploitative sick leave policies, and combatting wage theft and other labor violations. 

Just last week, while eating a Crunchwrap Supreme, the mayor and DCWP commissioner Sam Levine announced a $1.8 million settlement secured by the department for around 800 workers who had their scheduling rights violated by franchisees of Dunkin’ Donuts and Taco Bell. 

But now, faced with a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, and with Governor Kathy Hochul unlikely to fill the gap with the revenue generated by his proposed higher tax on the wealthy, Mamdani has been left to make difficult budgeting choices.

City Hall denies funding was cut

But Council Member Harvey Epstein, who chairs the Council's Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, argued that funding DCWP is not just good policy – it’s a smart investment. 

“This is one of those agencies that makes us money,” he said. “Every time they hire another lawyer, we can expect millions of dollars to go into the coffers of New York City or the hands of workers.” 

Just this year, the department has already brought in more than $8.5 million in restitution. As of September 2025, the department had restored $48.5 million to workers. Epstein argued that with more funding, they could recoup far more. 

City Hall has denied that the administration plans to cut the budget for any agency, including DCWP.

“The Department of Consumer and Worker Protections is one of the most powerful tools the Mamdani Administration has to protect working people and crack down on corporate abuse,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement. “Even in the face of a historic budget deficit the Mamdani Administration inherited, we are not backing down from our core responsibility of protecting workers. The Mayor remains committed to increasing DCWP's funding over time to ensure that the agency has the resources needed to meet its mission.” 

The administration’s preliminary budget proposal – the first step in the monthslong budgeting process – actually represents an increase in funds for FY26 and FY27 from the last proposal of the Adams administration in December, City Hall insists. However, there is still a decrease in proposed funds between those years, which officials said was not a cut but merely different funding levels.

DCWP helps unions

The City Council has passed a slew of labor laws this year, including ones aimed at protecting street vendors and taxi drivers – representatives of which were in attendance at the rally. Epstein said that the city's Office of Management and Budget estimates more than 300 more positions in DCWP are needed just to enforce those new laws. 

Queens Council Member Tiffany Cabán said that funding DCWP is key to realizing and enforcing Mamdani’s vision for a more affordable city. 

Funding the department “goes to the heart of what this administration has promised to be about – affordability in our city,” Cabán said. “And we do not achieve that without making sure that we hold corporations and employers accountable, that we don’t let them steal from our hard working New Yorkers.” 

Shakira Crawford, a hotel worker – newly promoted from housekeeper to lobby attendant – who attended the rally, said that her union changed everything for her and that DCWP is an important partner in making sure unions are protected. 

“I’ve worked at a non-union hotel before, there was no protection and the salary was horrible,” Crawford said. “No healthcare, no vacation time, no sick days, no family leave, nothing at all.” 

With the HTC she is more protected, better salaried, and happier, she said.

DCWP helps keep it that way.