‘I am not going anywhere’: NYC mayoral candidate Dianne Morales stays in race amid campaign turmoil

New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales described the implosion within her campaign following the abrupt firing of four staffers as a “beautiful mess.”

On Thursday, the progressive Democrat got rid of employees accused of harassment and other infractions, but allegedly stonewalled subsequent efforts from some staffers to unionize. They wanted to address both the alleged toxic work environment and concerns about wages and lack of health insurance.

The first Afro-Latina running for City Hall insisted on Friday she won’t pull the plug on her turmoil-stricken campaign and rejected workers’ demands to rehire four fired union organizers.

“I am not going anywhere,” Morales said in a video message to supporters. “We have made history and we’re not done yet. I’m hoping that you will stick with us.”

Morales claims that she “unequivocally” supports the right of campaign workers to organize. But she stuck by her decision to dump four staffers, claiming their firings didn’t have “anything to do with union organizing efforts.”

“Members of the team ... needed to be let go,” Morales, the former nonprofit executive added. “It is just what I, as a manager and an executive, decided was in the best interests of the campaign moving forward.”

The defiant statement came minutes after two dozen striking campaign staffers and supporters held signs as they marched from Bryant Park to the Morales campaign headquarters nearby.

“We were hired to build people power,” said Nia Evans, fired policy director for the Morales campaign. “I didn’t expect we would have to do it because of the actions of the candidate we support.”

New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales (Jeff Bachner/)

“Union busting is disgusting,” read one worker’s sign. “Every worker deserves a union,” another said.

Evans said the protesters are demanding the reinstatement of fired union organizers, a new contract for campaign workers and a more equitable workplace.

Despite the dispute, they urged Morales to remain in the June 22 Democratic primary race.

“The purpose of this campaign is not to tear down,” Evans said outside the campaign headquarters. “(Morales) can demonstrate that she can take accountability and repair the harm. This is an opportunity to do right.”

Campaign manager Whitney Hu quit this week after she says Morales botched her demands for the firing of other unnamed staffers who were accused of creating a toxic environment for people of color and women on the campaign.

In her video statement, Morales admitted that her campaign “is not perfect.”

“In many ways, we replicated the very systemic and structural issues that this campaign has intended to repair in this city,” she said.

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