**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR SATURDAY, SEPT. 9 AT 10 A.M.**
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Nurses on the Move and in the Movement: NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN to Be Grand Marshal of the NYC Labor Day Parade
New York Nurses Cement Important Role in the Labor Movement by Leading 2023 Parade
New York, N.Y. – On Saturday, Sept. 9th, tens of thousands of workers representing more than 200 unions and constituency groups will come together in a celebration of solidarity on New York’s City’s famed Fifth Avenue for the 2023 Labor Day Parade and March, the nation’s oldest and largest Labor Day parade.
The theme of this year’s parade is “We Organize, We Rise,” reflecting the unprecedented wave of labor activism and organizing that is taking place across the nation and across all sectors of the workforce.
Nurses from the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) have been a big part of this labor resurgence. In January, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai energized the labor movement with a successful strike that garnered international attention and delivered major salary gains and patient safety improvements. In July, NYSNA nurses in New York City’s public sector won a historic contract with pay parity and safe staffing. They won the largest salary increase in NYSNA’s history – more than 37% over five years – putting them on par with their private sector peers to help retain nurses and ensure access to quality care for all New Yorkers. Along the way this year, nurses at Mount Sinai South Nassau and Margaretville Hospital organized with NYSNA, and NYSNA healthcare workers from Buffalo to the North Country to Long Island all achieved contract victories.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “This is more than labor’s moment, it is our movement, and our movement is strong and growing in New York City, the state, and the nation. Nurses and healthcare workers are a major force in this movement. We are organizing and rising up for better conditions for workers and our patients – and we are winning.”
NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, said: “It is fitting that the nation’s oldest and largest state nurses’ association and union is leading the nation’s oldest and largest Labor Day parade. Nurses in New York are reclaiming our power as both patient advocates and workers. We are cementing our important role in the labor movement; first, through our affiliation last fall with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, and now by leading the 2023 NYC Labor Day Parade and March.”
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, 10 a.m.
WHERE: Kicking off from 5th Avenue and 44th Street in Manhattan, marching uptown to the NYC Central Labor Council Reviewing Stand at 64th Street.
WHO: Parade Grand Marshal NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, and hundreds of NYSNA and National Nurses United nurses, among tens of thousands of workers representing more than 200 unions and constituency groups, including striking entertainment industry workers and essential workers, Parade Chair Amalgamated Transit Union International Vice President Mark Henry; the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO Executive Council, and elected officials.
VISUALS: Workers and families, classic cars, motorcycles, double-decker buses, floats, construction equipment, bands, dancers, banners.
MEDIA RSVP: Members of the media interested in obtaining press passes should contact Kate Whalen, kwhalen@nycclc.org, 347-453-7131. More info: www.nycclc.org; 2023 Promo Video.
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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.
