New York’s senior senator and Majority Leader in the United States Senate, Chuck Schumer, addressed the 52nd Representative Assembly in New York City on Saturday. “I say to every member of NYSUT, thank you for the work you do.”
Schumer highlighted the work President Biden and the Senate are doing for the labor movement, including money for public schools passed in the American Rescue Plan, pro-labor rulings from a revamped National Labor Relations Board, pro-labor judges being appointed to federal benches across the country, and student debt cancellations for public service workers.
Delving into his family history, Schumer talked about his family history with unions, both being members and forming new locals, and how he is a proud graduate of public schools and how his children are as well. The senator talked about two quotes from his father which he carries with him, “Always help people who need help,” and, “If you’re doing something important, look to your heart, make sure it’s the right thing to do. If it is, persist and persist and persist.”
The senator told delegates that unions have always been in his corner, ever since his first political run for Assembly, and that he will always be there for them.
“I love our schools and I love our public school teachers and employees,” he said. “And I will always go to bat for you.”