Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good afternoon, New York City. How we doing? How we doing? Happy May Day, everybody. I want to say thank you once and for all to the organizers, the activists and the hardworking men and women of New York City. Let's hear it for them. I would not be standing in front of you as the mayor of our city were it not for the support of working people. And it is such a pleasure to be back here with all of you in Washington Square Park to create all of Worker Power.
Time and again, New York City workers have changed the street from where we stand right now. We speak of Eugene Debs calling for the 8-hour workday in the end of child labor, where 20,000-plus called for change after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1911. Workers have won the rights that are taken for granted today. The 40-hour workweek, the weekend, overtime pay, minimum wage, Social Security, workplace safety standards, these have all been won by the workers who came before us. And yet we know that those rights are not inevitable. We have to work together to not just protect them, but to advance that same agenda. And our city hall is committed to doing everything we can to put working people right at the heart of that agenda. That is why we have delivered millions of dollars to workers and small businesses who are being ripped off by megacorporations.
That is why we appointed the first-ever deputy mayor for economic justice, Julie Su. That is why I stood there alongside NYSNA nurses and Starbucks workers on the picket line. And that is why we continue to fight for those who power this city as we look to deliver universal childcare, faster buses, cheaper groceries, protecting our neighbors from the cruelty of ICE, and yes, working to tax the wealthiest and the most profitable corporations in New York City. Now we know that one of the best ways to uplift worker power is to stand with our unions. There is no New York City without unions. A union town that is union strong. I want to ask you a question, and I'm going to give you a hint. The answer is always “union workers.” Who built the Empire State Building?
Crowd: Union workers!
Mayor Mamdani: Who keeps the magic alive on Broadway?
Crowd: Union workers!
Mayor Mamdani: Who drives our buses and cleans our streets?
Crowd: Union workers!
Mayor Mamdani: Union strong is more than just a slogan. It is a practice of solidarity. And I want to acknowledge and thank the president of the New York City Central Labor Council, Brendan Griffith. Let's hear it for Brendan. Let's hear it for Murad Awawdeh, the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. Let's hear it for all of the staff and the workers of the CLC and the NYIC. Every volunteer, marshal and committee who made this May Day what it is. And the 60-plus unions and organizations that are here with us today. In the words of Samuel Gompers: “You can’t do it unless you organize.” Together, we will show the world what solidarity means. That a people united — a people organized — cannot be defeated. So, when I say “union,” you say “strong.”
Mayor Mamdani: Union!
Crowd: Strong!
Mayor Mamdani: Union!
Crowd: Strong!
Mayor Mamdani: Happy May Day, New York City.