On July 14 City Council Stated Meeting of Res. 257, declared their solidarity with workers organizing within unions across New York City.
Joined by resolution lead sponsor, Council Member Tiffany Cabán, the headstrong worker-leaders directing New York’s current surge of union organizing, marched during their rally under the banner “New York Is A Union Town.”
“As the price of food, fuel, medicine, energy, rent, and other essential purchases continue to soar, the billionaire class is extracting profits and over fist, with their wealth going up by almost $2 Trillion during the pandemic,” said Cabán. “Workers are standing up and saying
they won’t take it anymore, the number of filings for union elections up 56% this fiscal year compared to 2021. The same bosses reaping the most exorbitant windfall profits are employing the dirtiest, most gutter-scraping union-busting tactics. It won’t work, because we stand with the workers, clearly and without apology. New York is A Union Town!”
Many major corporation workers took to the stage to speak about their goals for unionizing. Some companies represented at the rally were Starbucks Workers United, Amazon Labor Union, the Association of Legislative Employees, Laborers Local 79, UAW Region 9, NewsGuild of New York, New Immigrant Community Empowerment and NYC Comptroller Brad Lander. They rallied to have their voices heard.
Council Members also joined in on the rally, Chair Carmen De La Rosa, Rita Joseph, Alexa
Avilés and Lincoln Restler all attended in support of union workers in NYC.
Also in attendance were members and representatives from 1199 SEIU, the Council of School Superintendents and Administrators, ALIGN NY, the NY Taxi Workers Alliance, Teamsters, the New York State Nurses Association, and even more.
“Union nurses are proud to care for New York, and we believe that every worker deserves to have the voice and respect that come from being a union member,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans. “With big corporations profiting from price gouging, suppressing wages, and driving inflation to record-high levels, workers need to organize and build power to fight back and win the healthy workplaces and communities we all deserve.”
Workers are demanding equal compensation for the essential support they provide, not only to NYC’s people, but to the entire United States. Nurses and healthcare professionals provide life-saving support to our country’s needy. While baristas and food industry workers provide daily necessities for every person across the country.
“Workers across the country have reached a breaking point,” said Council Member Sandy Nurse. “After years of surviving on starvation wages, exploitative and dangerous conditions, meager or nonexistent benefits, and authoritarian bosses that track and clock your every minute, we are seeing widespread unionization efforts to build democratic power in the workplace. These workers face some of the richest people in the world, but these billionaires will lose because we know that labor creates all wealth. I proudly stand with the workers here today and those across our city who are fighting for a union and more democratic control of their workplace.”
Workers are no longer content to stay silent with their suffering. They are voicing their demands loud and clear. If the billion dollar corporations choose not to listen they will lose their most valuable assets.
