New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli will highlight the key role of labor in advancing the Irish peace process when he addresses the 14th annual Irish Labor Awards in New York on 6 September.
It's believed the Comptroller will also flag up the success of a series of investments he has made on behalf of the New York Common Retirement Fund in the North of Ireland over the past decade.
On a visit to Belfast in October 2023, Comptroller DiNapoli committed another $50m to businesses in the North and called on other states and cities to follow his lead — without, to date, success.
At the New York-New Belfast conference in the Big Apple this June, the Comptroller revealed that returns on the Northern Ireland investments had been among the most successful his office had made.
While there have been tentative discussions about U.S. labor union pension funds making similar investments since the appointment of U.S. Special Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland Joseph Kennedy III, no commitments have yet been made.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, with around $260bn in assets, is one of the largest public pension plans in the United States, providing retirement security for over one million retired public sector workers
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Around 300 labor leaders and rank and file members are expected at the Edison Hotel in Manhattan for this year's celebration of the Irish contribution, past and present, to the American labor movement.
Former Sinn Féin President and co-founder of the U.S. labor-backed Áras Uí Chonghaile/James Connolly Centre in Belfast, Gerry Adams, will also address the awards virtually.
Among the 2024 honorees will be Stephen McCann who represents Local 1556 of the NYC District Council of Carpenters, Mary Claire Breslin, President of the New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees, Local 280, and James Whalen, Director, Transport Workers Union Local 100 Retirees Association and Trustee and Member of the Pension Investment Committee of MTA-Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MABSTOA) Pension Fund.
Readers can see a full list of this year's award recipients online.
Among sponsors of the annual labor gathering are the TWU, ULICO and LiUNA as well as the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.
Tickets for the Irish Echo's Labor Awards celebration are available online or by calling the Irish Echo office at 212-482-4818.
