In the City Council, Brad’s “fair work week” legislation ended cruel and erratic scheduling for fast-food and retail workers, giving them advance notice of their schedules, and a pathway to full-time work.

His “just cause” legislation ended arbitrary firings in the fast-food industry, and provided a model for job stability that New York City can build upon.

Brad passed the first law in the country to guarantee a living wage for Uber, Lyft, and other for-hire drivers, putting more than $500 million in the pockets of drivers rather than Uber and Lyft’s bank accounts – without disruption to customers or a loss of service.

Brad introduced and passed the first law in the country requiring minimum pay for deliveristas working for DoorDash, Grubhub, Seamless, Uber Eats, and other food service apps – and fought successfully to preserve the law when lobbyists sought to undercut it at City Hall and quash it in the courts.

Brad worked with the Freelancers Union to create and pass the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” which gives groundbreaking protections to independent contractors to ensure they are paid on time and in full, and hundreds of freelancers have now recovered millions of dollars they were owed. He also passed a law extending the benefits of New York City’s Human Rights Law to freelancers and independent contractors, ensuring that they are protected from discrimination and harassment in the workplace. 

As Comptroller and investment advisor to the five New York City pension funds, Brad has overseen a wide array of investments delivering strong returns for the City’s $270+ billion portfolio – while consistently leading efforts to ensure that companies with whom New York City invests treat their workers with dignity and respect and allow their workers to join a union without interference. His landmark shareholder proposal at Starbucks required an independent assessment of its labor practices and helped lead to a groundbreaking national agreement between the company and the union representing workers across the country. 

Brad rebuilt the Bureau of Labor Law and expanded the work the Comptroller’s office does on behalf of workers within New York City and around the world. He established prevailing wage rates for Staten Island Ferry workers, ending a multi-year legal dispute between hundreds of Ferry workers and New York City, leading to over $30 million dollars in backpay for those essential workers. He has also recovered more than $8 million in back wages and civil penalties for New York City’s prevailing wage workers including construction workers, temp workers, building service workers, and security officers.