Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Rallies With New York Labor Leaders and Delivers Remarks

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul rallied with New York labor leaders and delivered remarks at the "Fix Tier 6" rally in Albany.

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: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

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

 Oh, my brothers and sisters in labor. Wow, what a tremendous show of solidarity.

Let's start with a roll call. Let's start with a roll call right now. First of all, any Bills fans in the house? I just had to get that little bit of business out of the way. Go Bills. Any health care workers in the house? Any state, county, municipal employees in the house? Any public sector employees in the house? Any first responders in the house? Transportation workers in the house? Clerical workers in the house? Last but not least, do we have any teachers in the house? Then I am in the right place.

I want to acknowledge the hardworking men and women who are the unsung heroes of our state. Whether you're molding young minds or responding to emergencies, filling potholes, the work you do makes an enormous difference for our communities and it keeps New York moving forward. And those of you who took time off this afternoon or came from your families - and some of you traveled four, four and a half hours, and you got a little bit of a ride home - I am so grateful to see all of you right here, right now.

I have union blood running through my veins and, especially during the month of St. Patrick, I like to acknowledge my very impoverished Irish immigrant grandparents who came here and started life as migrant farm workers and domestic servants. And Grandma eventually went and made parts for airplanes at a plant for World War II; Grandpa worked at a steel plant, so when I know I have to be tough on this job, I have steel running through my veins.

But also, I saw what that union card did to my family. They started out so poor, struggling so much like so many who have come here looking for that American Dream. And you know what? The union movement lifted my family from poverty into the middle class, and that is why we are the most unionized state in America because it's lifting people up. It's making a difference in their lives.

And you know what? The jobs give you dignity - the dignity of hard work, and knowing they're making a difference. And that journey still launches me where I am today - to honor all of you. And for 32 years, I've been working shoulder to shoulder with members of public sector unions from back when I was a town board member, a county official, all the way up to governor, and I could not be prouder to do that every single day.

Now, we also need - no, we needed some wins. You needed some wins because you know what? For too long, your service was taken for granted, right? No one seemed to give a damn, and I'm so proud that we've been able to score some major victories for those of you in this room. We raised the minimum wage and indexed it to inflation because anyone who works 40 hours a week should not be living in poverty in the greatest state in the nation.

We paid off $7 billion in debt to be able to raise the unemployment benefit by nearly $1,500 more a month. And why did we do that? Because when you want to go on strike or you lose your jobs, your family should not have to suffer. So we got that done.

We also launched a nation-leading paid parental leave. Now, it seems like there's a baby boom going on because I can't find anybody in my offices these days - everybody's having babies, but that's a good thing because you shouldn't have to choose between raising your family and earning a paycheck. And remember when we lifted the state hiring freeze and waived civil service exam fees because you want to recruit and empower the next generation of public workers by doing those measures.

We also wanted to make sure our health care workers were taken care of with bonuses after COVID. Let's hear it for our health care workers again. Never forget what our nurses did during that pandemic. They showed up and literally saved lives. And working with people like Melinda Person and others - I want to thank her for what she did, helping us ban cell phones in schools so people are listening to the teachers and making sure that we continue to support them, and making school breakfast and lunches free so no little child has their tummy growling in school.

Now, here's what I want to say: One thing we have on our side is extraordinary labor leadership, right? I mean, there's no other state that can touch what we have, and I'm just going to run through some names and you let me see some love for all of them. Mario Cilento, our head of AFL-CIO; Melinda Person, President of NYSUT; Randi Weingarten, our National President of AFT; Michael Mulgrew, the President of UFT; Mary Sullivan, the head of CSEA; Pat Kane, the President of NYSNA; and Sam Fresina, the President of the Fire Fighters; and Wayne Spence, who's the head of PEF.

Okay, that's a lot of love. That's a lot of love. They deserve it. But contrast that, that firepower that we have in those incredible leaders, with the fights we have to have with Washington, what Donald Trump did to us and Elon Musk. Remember the Doge Boys?

Remember all the people they just disposed of? I'll tell you what. Just a year ago when they said, "you're fired," here in New York, we said "you're hired," and we brought many more of those people that have been thrown out of their jobs and their careers to be part of our New York family. Because you know what? In New York State, we don't vilify public servants, we value you. We cherish your contributions and we'll always make sure you feel valued as part of our family.

So that's why when you asked us before to reform Tier 6, we listened. You told us you were struggling to recruit nurses and teachers and other hardworking individuals, and we listened. And after years of neglect, we said we have to lead the charge and make some changes. So now, instead of taking the average of five years, we're taking the average of your three consecutive years. We're taking a shorter vesting period from 10 years down to five. And also, I'm fighting for a fairer pension plan because it's essential that we continue recruiting people.

Because I'll tell you what, my friends: I have always believed that public service is a noble calling. There's a lot of grief you take, and especially those who are on the front lines - believe me, I used to run a DMV and my people used to take a lot of crap from the customers and I stood up for them. So I have seen firsthand, but I want people to understand when you're doing something for your neighbors and your friends or strangers, you're making a profound difference in their lives, and that's why I've always viewed myself as nothing more than a public servant, like all of you, because we're doing it for the right reasons, and I want more people to have that love of service that every single person in this room and across the state has.

So I'm fighting for a stronger pension system because the more we attract people, we'll be stronger overall. We'll protect you from burnout too. We need to have more people working shoulder to shoulder with you because you work so damn hard every day - and make sure you have what you need.

So at the end of the day, a fairer pension is about dignity. It's all about dignity. Dignity is knowing that after decades of hard work - sacrificing yourself and making sacrifices for your family - that a whole new chapter awaits for you. Dignity is knowing that when you've been fairly compensated after all those long days and nights, you can rest easier. You can spend some money on the grandkids, right?

Any grandparents out there? Okay, I got two little ones. But dignity is knowing someday you will be able to travel and live life the way you wanted because you sacrificed all those years. And I'll tell you what: We're in the session time, we're about to start to roll up my sleeves for the Budget, but I'm going to keep fighting to make sure you get what you deserve.

Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

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