Yorktown residents joined local workers, union members and advocates outside Walmart in Mohegan Lake on Friday to mark May Day.
The gathering was one of many held worldwide, where participants called for peace, higher wages and improved working conditions as workers face rising energy costs and declining purchasing power tied to the Iran war.
May 1 is observed in many countries as International Workers’ Day, also known as Labor Day, when labor groups rally around issues including wages, pensions, inequality and broader political concerns.
Speakers and signs criticized Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17), saying his policies increase costs for working families while benefiting billionaires through tax breaks.
The rally, organized by Indivisible YorktownNY, Empire State Voices, Indivisible Scarsdale, Northern Westchester Indivisible, Putnam Progressives and the Communications Workers of America, drew residents and local leaders focused on the impact of rising costs on Hudson Valley families.
“In the last five, we’re starting to see a turnaround as workers realize the need for more protection,” Mark Lieberman of Indivisible Yorktown told the crowd lined up along Route 6. “We are in Mike Lawler’s district and we’re here to say—‘we know who you really are.’”
Katie Feder, a local arts administrator and co-leader of the Singing Resistance of Lower Hudson Valley, and Yorktown resident Linda Kingsbury led the group in call-and-response chants, including “Gather Your Courage” and one they called “Tax the Rich,” using song as a way to engage and protest.
Maurice Larry of 1199 Service Employees International Union highlighted the meaning of the day.
“Labor is the backbone of this country,” he said. “Without the workers in New York State, that keep New York State running—they're in jeopardy of their jobs, their healthcare. Their food subsidies.”
He criticized the administration, saying “what you're doing to New Yorkers is outrageous. Disgusting.”
Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg said the number of people in attendance reflected support for workers’ issues.
“Today is the day when we celebrate labor and our incredible workers and everything that they do for us every single day,” she said. “We want to make sure that they can continue to be part of our world—that they can be healthy, that their kids can survive and thrive on this earth, that they can hold those jobs that our so critical to our economy, that they can have affordable housing to live in and that they can have affordable healthcare.”
Jacob Stachowicz spoke on behalf of his mother, Karen Rubinson, a 30-year Yorktown Heights resident and 21-year breast cancer survivor, who was unable to attend due to illness.
In his mother’s words, Stachowicz said, “this isn’t politics for me. This is survival.”
Rubinson said after the event that she balances caring for her son, managing her own responsibilities and supporting her aging parents.
“My mom is 88 and living with Alzheimer’s, and my dad is 94. They depend on Medicaid for the full-time care they need,” she said. “Cutting that care so billionaires can get tax breaks is wrong, and families like mine are the ones who will pay the price. Hudson Valley families can’t afford Mike Lawler’s broken policies.”
Organizers said the event was part of a broader effort to highlight economic concerns facing workers beyond one community.
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