Shirley Aldebol was born and raised in the Bronx by her mother and stepfather who migrated here from Puerto Rico. Her mother held numerous jobs to support Shirley and her siblings — everything from working in restaurants to piece work– sewing together pieces of fabric at home for pay.  Eventually, Shirley’s family was able to open a small business: a bodega in Soundview where Shirley grew up helping her parents behind the counter after school. Her parents bought a home in Throggs Neck 45 years ago when Shirley was a senior at Cardinal Spellman High School.

Her first job out of college was working as a child welfare caseworker for New York City. She quickly became involved with her union, SSEU Local 371, and hasn’t left the labor movement since. Two years into working for Local 371, Shirley was promoted to Executive Vice President.  She then volunteered to assist AFSCME in organizing public employees in Puerto Rico. AFSCME then named Shirley as Organizing Director in Puerto Rico, where she led and won a campaign to attain collective bargaining rights for public employees. Shirley also served as AFSCME’s Northeast Regional Director, leading the entire East Coast from Maine to Puerto Rico. 

Shirley came to 32BJ SEIU in 2004, where she stayed for over two decades, up until launching her campaign for the City Council. Throughout her tenure at 32BJ, some of Shirley’s biggest accomplishments were standing up to big landlords to secure fair contracts for commercial building service workers, winning higher wages for custodial workers in New York City public schools, and successfully negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement for service workers at New York and New Jersey airports. Shirley also served on the board of directors of the New York Economic Development  Corporation where she advocated for responsible development that creates good family-sustaining jobs.

Shirley has spent her entire career fighting and winning for New York City’s working people, and as a native Bronxite who grew up in a working-class family, Shirley also understands the challenges facing working families as a single parent and homeowner here in Throggs Neck for the last 12 years. She has seen the city she’s spent her entire life in become more and more unaffordable for regular people just trying to make ends meet. 

Now, Shirley is running for the City Council because it’s time to stand up! We don’t have to accept skyrocketing housing costs, underfunded public services, and low wages that aren’t even keeping up with inflation. As our Councilmember, Shirley will fight for a better, fairer, safer, and more affordable New York that works for everyone, regardless of income or zip code.