Héctor Figueroa

Héctor Figueroa (April 3, 1962 – July 11, 2019) was an international labor movement leader. He was president of the Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union.

Early life and education Figueroa was born on April 3, 1962, to Luis and Castita, both educators, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from New York University. He then studied economics at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, New York.

Due to protests and Figueroa's private meetings with elected officials and their appointees, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey increased the minimum wage to $19 of about 40,000 employees at the three main airports in New York City.

Figueroa supported Amazon's motion to build a second corporate headquarter in Queens, saying that he wanted to get the company on "home field" to start organizing Amazon laborers from there. He stated: If there is any place where it would be possible to leverage the labor movement’s existing power to crack open the door to collective bargaining for Amazon workers, it is here.

Personal life He was married to Maria Ríos. The couple had a son, Eric, before divorcing. He then married Deidre McFadyen and had a daughter, Elena. He was known by friends to be great at drawing caricatures.

Death He died of a heart attack in his home at Jackson Heights, Queens, New York.