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NYSNA members march with pride at the 2006 NYC Labor Day parade

NYSNA members marched in solidarity with more than 200,000 union brothers and sisters up Fifth Avenue on Sept. 9 in New York City's 2006 Labor Day Parade.

NYSNA and the Committee of Interns and Residents co-sponsored a float decorated with the slogans "Health Care - The Right of All New Yorkers", and "Health Care for All." Many of the marchers signs chastised Governor Pataki for vetoing legislation that would have declared nursing a 'physically taxing' profession, thereby entitling city nurses to improved pension benefits. The legislation was overwhelmingly supported by both houses of the New York State Legislature and the New York City Council.

The marchers from NYSNA and the Committee of Interns and Residents received raucous cheers from the spectators lining Fifth Avenue when they chanted, "money for health care, not for war."

The float was led by a ragtag marching band called the Rude Mechanical Orchestra that kept the marchers, float riders, and spectators dancing to a contemporary beat.

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 'physically taxing' profession."

Photos: Rolando Tomas Infante

With more than 34,000 members, NYSNA is the oldest and largest state nurses’ association in the nation. It is an influential union for RNs, representing nurses in New York and New Jersey. Offering a wide range of services to its members, NYSNA fosters high standards of nursing education and practice and works to advance the profession through legislative activity. It is a constituent of the American Nurses Association and of the United American Nurses, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.