ON MAY DAY, LABOR RALLIED AGAINST ATTACKS ON WORKERS AND HEALTHCARE
For immediate release: Thurs., May 1, 2025
Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | [email protected] | 347-559-3169
Kristi Barnes | [email protected] | 646-853-4489
ON MAY DAY, LABOR RALLIED AGAINST ATTACKS ON WORKERS AND HEALTHCARE
Workers from NYSNA, PEF, SEIU Local 200, UUP, and CDALF rallied and marched against recent attacks on workers’ rights and healthcare.
Albany, N.Y. - On Thursday, May 1, members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), Public Employees Federation (PEF), SEIU Local 200, United University Professions (UUP) and the Capital District Area Labor Federation (CDALF) were joined by labor and community allies in a march to the Veteran Affairs office to commemorate International Workers Day. Together, they protested federal cuts to jobs, healthcare, and other important social services, as well as recent attacks on workers’ rights.
Tonia Bazel, RN, said, “As a nurse at Albany Medical Center, I see the impact of rising healthcare costs and the strain of understaffing on a daily basis. The staff and service cuts at the Veterans Administration will likely put additional strain on my hospital and deprive our nation’s veterans of care. The cuts to public health programs and the looming cuts to Medicaid will have disastrous effects on our community and working people across the country for generations to come. We are at a crossroads in this country. Either we can watch these changes happen, or we can fight back and ensure that patient safety and our communities’ health are put above the demands of tax-evading billionaires.”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, "Amidst unprecedented federal attacks on working people, New York needs to remain united and fight back on behalf of our fellow union family members and other workers. We have never seen such aggressive action taken to dismantle our union rights, health and safety, and everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve. Now is the time to reclaim power and defend our rights. Together, we can ensure that New York state remains union strong.”
Mark Emanation, Capital Area District Labor Federation Executive Director, said, “The best way to celebrate May Day and honor those who dedicated their lives and, in many cases, lost their lives for the cause of labor and the working class is to participate in today's labor battles like the struggle of the nurses at Albany Medical center and the workers at the VA Hospital.”
United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal, said, “On May Day, we celebrate working families and honor labor in America and around the world. But this isn’t your average May Day celebration. Because today, health care is under assault by Donald Trump and his rogue administration, which has attempted to cut federal research funding grants and fire more than 100,000 federal workers. Now, Trump and the Republican-led Congress are coming for Medicaid and Medicare with massive cuts, which will harm the most vulnerable of our society. That is why we must be here today and why we must take advantage of every opportunity to speak out. We will stand up to the bully. We will fight for our jobs, for our patients, for our hospitals, our colleges and universities, for our First Amendment rights and for our unions. We will fight for democracy.”
Public Employees Federation President Wayne Spence, said, “The hardworking healthcare workers at Albany Med, the VA and all across New York deserve better than to have their rights as union members and their jobs threatened by cuts to healthcare programs like Medicaid and more. The working people of New York deserve the quality public services that these workers and PEF members provide. PEF stands in solidarity on this International Workers’ Day to insist the rights, health and livelihoods of all workers are protected.”
Over the last few months, over 10,000 jobs have been cut from the Department of Health and Human Services and billions of dollars have been pulled from the research of infectious disease, maternal health and mental health services. The Trump administration has defunded the regulatory agencies that defend working people. The nearly trillion dollars in proposed cuts to Medicaid will cause another wave of job losses and economic suffering, and put healthcare out of reach for millions. Medicaid cuts will cause irreparable harm to patients, including children, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income people. The attacks on workers include cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Labor Relations Board, and elimination of the recognition of federal workers’ collective bargaining agreements.
Workers from NYSNA, PEF, SEIU Local 200, UUP and CDALF marched in support of nurses at Albany Med and the VA and against recent attacks on workers’ rights. For photos of the march, visit: facebook.com/nynurses.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.