NEW YORK (AP) - The president of a union representing 175,000 property service workers has died in New York at age 57.
Hector Figueroa of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union died Thursday. The union announced the death Friday without giving a cause.
Elected officials praised Figueroa for his leadership in fighting for causes including Puerto Rican hurricane relief and raising New York’s minimum wage.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, called Figueroa “the voice of empathy, of conviction, of principle.”
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo called him “a champion for working people, minorities, the poor, the voiceless.”
The union represents airport workers, window cleaners, superintendent, doormen, maintenance workers, cleaners, porters and security officers in Washington, D.C. and 11 states including New York.
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