Speaker 1 (00:00):
Please give a loud, a loud May Day welcome to New York City Mayor, New York City Mayor, Zohran Kwame Mamdani.
Zohran Mamdani (00:28):
Good afternoon, New York City Day. How are we doing? How we doing? Happy May Day, everybody. I want to say thank you first and foremost 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. It is such a pleasure to be back here with all of you in Washington Square Park, the cradle of worker power.
(00:59)
Time and again, New York City workers have shaped history from where we stand right now. We speak of Eugene Debs calling for the eight-hour workday and 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 work week, the weekend, overtime paid, 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.
(01:59)
That is why we have delivered millions of dollars to workers and small businesses who are being ripped off by mega corporations. 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.
(02:48)
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?
Audience (03:06):
Union workers.
Zohran Mamdani (03:11):
Who keeps the magic alive on Broadway?
Audience (03:14):
Union workers.
Zohran Mamdani (03:18):
Who drives our buses and cleans our streets?
Audience (03:18):
Union workers.
Zohran Mamdani (03:19):
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 from Brendan. Let's hear it from 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.
(04:02)
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. Union.
Audience (04:22):
Strong.
Zohran Mamdani (04:22):
Union.
Audience (04:22):
Strong.
Zohran Mamdani (04:22):
Union.
Audience (04:22):
Strong.
Zohran Mamdani (04:22):
Union.
Audience (04:22):
Strong.
Zohran Mamdani (04:27):
Happy May Day, New York City.