Sodus, NY
May 2, 2005

Good afternoon! Buenas tardes.

Me llamo Carrie Andrews. I work as a labor relations specialist for New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and am glad to be here on behalf of the Rochester Regional Office of NYSUT. I was proud to march with you this morning in Rochester as you passed in front of the NYSUT building.

I'm so excited to be here with you today to fight with you for the rights that you deserve and should have. Estoy contenta estar con Uds. hoy, juntos, lunchando por sus derechos.

NYSUT is a union of teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and other employees in school districts throughout the state of New York. In my work, I'm a union advocate and I represent these members-fighting for the same benefits that you want and deserve-good wages, health care, paid time off, and dignity at work.

Throughout my life, I've fought for unorganized workers. Durante mi vida he luchado por trabajadores. And for justice at work. Y por la justicia a trabajo.

I've worked as a food service worker and organized food service workers. And when we voted for a union in the restaurant where I worked we voted to have a voice in our workplace. Una voz en nuestro lugar de trabajo. And we fought for a good contract. Trabajamos por un contrato con beneficios y sueldos decentes. Together we fought for a better workplace. Juntos, luchamos por mejorarse nuestro trabajo.

And the conditions we faced were not nearly the conditions that you face. We had bathrooms. We had a day off each week. We had a minimum wage. And we had overtime protections. But still, fighting as one voice we made our workplace better. We improved our wages and our benefits. And we fought for fairness and equal treatment. Luchando juntos por nuestros derechos.

The labor community has stood beside farm workers for years and will continue to do so. In Rochester, the Labor-Religion Coalition's annual fast raised awareness to the conditions of farm workers. The coalition also fought to stop Taco Bell from opening in Strong Museum in solidarity with tomato workers in Florida.

The president of the Rochester AFL-CIO has written in the newspaper and spoken out on your behalf, as have leaders of other unions throughout the state.

But all of this is not enough. We must continue to fight.

I think all workers are the same-industrial, clerical, professionals, farmworkers-we are all the same. Todos somos iguales. And we are all deserving of the same rights. We deserve dignity, the means to support our family and a voice in our workplace. And we all want the same things-to be respected at work, to have dignity and be able to take care of our families.

Forming unions helps us gain these rights. In the labor community we recognize that all of our brothers and sisters at work deserve the right to a voice in their workplace and the right to dignity at work. We are all part of the same community-what goes on in the fields where you work affects what goes on in the schools where teachers teach and the factories were workers work.

We must call on our elected leaders to support legislation in the NYS Assembly and Senate granting you the right to bargain collectively. The right to a day at rest. The right to union representation. We must put pressure on our elected officials to give to you what they and so many others enjoy-rights and protections at work.

In 1935, the US Government passed the National Labor Relations Act, granting most workers in the private sector the right to organize and to bargain collectively. However, domestic workers and farm workers were not included. In what I consider to be an act of racism, you were not given the same rights. It's not fair. No es justo.

In 1967, public sector employees in New York State were granted these rights. Again, you were not. It's not fair. No es justo.

It's been 70 years since the passage of collective bargaining laws in this country. 70 years. Setenta anos. And still now, we are marching to Albany to demand legislation to give you the right to a day off. The right to overtime. Rights that many of us take for granted. And the right to collectively bargain with your employer.

It's outrageous in 2005 that we need legislation to grant us a day off from work. Despues de 70 anos. Together we will continue to fight for what you deserve. We are all part of the same labor community. We must all stand united together. For that's the strength of the labor movement and unions-in solidarity, we do together what we cannot do alone. For we are stronger in numbers than by ourselves.

So, I thank you for what you do for me, for your inspiration and dedication and allowing me to be a part of this day with you. And I promise as an activist in the labor movement to never stop fighting with you for equality and justice-because 70 years is too long.

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