REPORT: October/November 2006

Nurses march with pride at the NYC Labor Day parade

by Rolando Tomas Infante

NYSNA members marched in solidarity with more than 200,000 of their union brothers and sisters on Sept. 9 as part of New York City’s 2006 Labor Day Parade.

NYSNA and the Committee of Interns and Residents sponsored a float decorated with the slogans of “Health Care — The Right of All New Yorkers,” and “Health Care for All.” Many of the signs carried by the marchers chastised Governor Pataki for vetoing HHC pension legislation that was overwhelmingly supported by both houses of the New York legislature and the City Council. The marchers received raucous cheers from the spectators lined up along Fifth Avenue, when they chanted: “Money for health care, not for war.”

The float was led by a marching band called the “Rude Mechanical Orchestra” that kept the marchers and spectators dancing to their contemporary beat.

One marching RN, Kimberly Velez of Coney Island Hospital, said that she was participating in the parade to “support my fellow nurses and bring awareness to the public that nursing is physically taxing work and to support saving hospitals like mine that cater to underserved communities.”

Velez came bright and early to the parade after working an eight-hour overnight shift. “I came straight from work,” said Velez. “After the parade, I am headed straight back to my (night) shift.”

Delegate Assembly President Anne Bové, who rode on the float, remarked: “We are here to express our support for labor, to support the Save Our Hospitals campaign and secure healthcare access for all New Yorkers. In addition, we are making the public and politicians like Pataki aware that nursing is a physically taxing profession.”