About:

Roberta Reardon was nominated by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to serve as New York State’s Labor Commissioner in October 2015. In this position, she oversees the New York State Department of Labor, an agency of 3,500 employees whose mission is to connect job seekers with employers, assist the unemployed and protect workers.

Commissioner Nominee Reardon has a long history of union advocacy and served as President of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) from 2007-2012. She was the founding Co-President of SAG-AFTRA when the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) merged with AFTRA in 2012. After stepping down from that position in late 2013, Commissioner Reardon consulted for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) as Special Liaison for Common Sense Economics. She also taught in the Cornell/CUNY Labor Relations Certificate program.

Previously, Commissioner Nominee Reardon served as a vice-president for the AFL-CIO and the New York State AFL-CIO, the chair of the New York Production Alliance, and the president for the New York Local of AFTRA. She has been honored with the Jewish Labor Committee’s 2009 Human Rights Award as well as the New York City Central Labor Council’s 2012 Award for Service to the Labor Movement.

Commissioner Nominee Reardon graduated from the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations School’s New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the University of Wyoming. She is a Worker Institute Fellow at Cornell University and sits on the Board of Trustees for the Actors Fund of America. She has more than 35 years of professional acting experience.