B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Marches in New York City Labor Day Parade

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul marched in the annual New York City Labor Day parade, where she signed a package of bills that will strengthen and expand worker and labor protections, and lead to the creation of new union jobs.

B-ROLL of the Governor at the Buffalo Bills Training Camp and greeting fans can be found on YouTube and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

 Happy Labor Day parade.

Where would you rather be than right here right now, surrounded by the most extraordinary labor leaders in our entire country. So proud to be the Governor of a state that is the most unionized state in America. We're joined here by labor leaders, but also Roberta Reardon, who is the Commissioner of Labor for the State of New York - our own Frances Perkins, let's give her a round of applause.

Are there any elected officials? I see our Attorney General, State Attorney General, district attorneys. I just want to say this: The labor movement is under attack by Washington, and it is incumbent upon states like New York to stand up to do whatever we can to protect the men and women who, for centuries, have built this city and this state into what it is - and we honor that service. I know because I have union blood running through my veins.

My grandparents had their lives changed when they were able to get a job at a steel plant, work at Val Aerospace, making parts in airplanes during World War II - that was my grandmother. My dad worked at the steel plant. I have teachers, I have healthcare workers in my family.

So we know what hard work is all about, and today, we celebrate the millions of New Yorkers who probably have that union card because they know it means they're going to get a good wage, they're going to have protection. As I have been Governor for the past four years, I have fought so hard to do things like raise the minimum wage, but not just raise it, but to tie it to inflation - so inflation goes up, your wages go up.

We also made sure that we could pay down the unemployment debt. What that meant was we could finally - after paying down the $7 billion debt from the pandemic - we could tell unionized members that you'll be able to get $1,500 more a month than you were before. So your wages go up if you have to be out of work. And as we're facing some difficult times in our economy - look at the labor numbers, look at the employment numbers - we're heading into some troubled waters, so I'm proud that I have that in place to make sure people could take care of their families if they go on strike.

We have so many other protections. The nation's first prenatal leave program guarantees that expected moms get paid time off from their jobs to be able to ensure that their babies are safe and healthy when they're born.

We have wage theft crackdown, prevailing wage for construction workers - how about that? Free community college for adult partnered learners to get them into these skilled jobs, and investing in apprenticeships and also putting more money back in everyone's pocket. So we've done a lot, but guess what? I found even more to do.

I'm here to proudly sign - with a pen, here we go - this legislation. Because of the attacks in Washington by Donald Trump - who are attacking the rights, stacking the NLRB with a bunch of anti-union people - so we sat here in the State of New York, we're going to make sure that we will intercede in these disputes, and that's what I'm signing right now.

So New York will stand tall, Washington can't screw with us, and I'm signing to make sure that never happens. So we have three pro-labor laws, also establishing the Mechanical Insulation Energy Savings Program, there you go. Making sure we have handled disputes between employers and employees - we got a whole lot of stuff here. But also allowing for the ability to intervene in private sector disputes, strengthening civil service protections. So, you could read it all on your own, I'm just here to sign it.

The bill is signed. Let's march.

Contact the Governor's Press Office