AT THE RALLY – Left to right, Ruben Nieves, Paul D’amato, Anthony Rosario, Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Torres, and Carl Giles.

New York State Governor Mario Cuomo died in January, but at a laborpacked rally in August at the Javits Convention Center, his spirit — and his words — were very much alive.

In his renowned 1984 speech at the Democratic Party Convention, Governor Cuomo warned against reelecting President Reagan because he blindly “saw this country as a shining city on a hill…where everyone seems to be doing well.” The Governor went on to criticize Reagan by saying: “A shining city is perhaps all the President sees from the portico of the White House.” Cuomo told Reagan: “Maybe if you visited more places, Mr. President, you’d understand… there’s another part of the city, the part where some people can’t pay their mortgages, and most young people can’t afford one, where students can’t afford the education they need and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can’t find it. There are ghettos where thousands of young people, without an education or a job, give their lives to drugs every day. There is despair.”

Mario Cuomo’s son, Governor Andrew Cuomo, invoked his father’s words at a rally where he announced his push for raising the minimum wage for all workers throughout New York State to $15 an hour. The Governor said, “It’s wrong to have an economy where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where the American dream of mobility and opportunity has become a cruel myth.” Cuomo called New York “the progressive capital of the nation” that leads the way for other states to follow, setting the standard. He said, “Fifteen dollars an hour will be the highest statewide rate in the nation and will herald a new economic contract with America, and it’s about time.” The Governor implored state legislators to “build my father’s shining city.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Teamster Local 237 President Gregory Floyd at the rally for a $15-an hour minimum wage for all workers in New York State.

On the stage appearing with Governor Cuomo was George Gresham, President of 1199/SEIU, who suggested to the cheering audience that the campaign for the minimum wage boost be named after the late Governor, calling it: “The Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice-$ 15 Minimum Wage For All.”

The rally also featured a special guest: Vice President Joe Biden. The VP echoed the Governor’s call for a wage hike, saying that the increase should be applied throughout the nation. Referring to lower, stagnant wages, Biden said, “Too many Americans no longer think it’s gonna be okay. We need to have one single solitary focus: to continue to fight until every parent can look their kid in the eye and mean what they say: ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay.’”

Biden noted that half of the minimum wage workers are women in their 20s and 30s, many with children to raise. He said that the Obama Administration has long maintained that if the wages of the lowest workers are increased, it adds to the economic growth not only of those workers but all workers. When this takes place, Biden asked, “Guess what happens?” His answer: “You raise everybody up.”

The Vice President also invoked the words of his father, a Pennsylvania coal miner who had to leave his family to find work in another state. “‘Joey, it’s all about dignity,’” his dad told him. “That’s the real importance of earning a living wage.”

Prior to the rally, Governor Cuomo’s recently established Wage Board convened to announce its recommendation for an increase to $15 an hour for fast food workers. This was an initiative put into play by the Governor during the summer. With the Wage Board’s consent, acting labor commissioner Mario Musolino signed an order to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers, which will be phased in and take full effect by December 31, 2018, in New York City, and by July 1, 2021, for the rest of New York State.

For other types of workers, the Governor will seek support for the passage of a $15 minimum wage law, pledging: “Every working man and woman in the state of New York deserves a $15 minimum wage. We’re not going to stop until we get it done.”

Teamsters Local 237 President, Gregory Floyd, was among the labor leaders who attended the rally, and said: “I support the Governor’s push to increase the minimum wage for all workers. Many of our members will benefit. I think this will improve the quality of life for all working families and help instill dignity throughout the workplace.”

AT THE RALLY – Left to right, Kevin Norman, Jabir Abdul-Hamid, Paul D’amato, Gregory Floyd, Cheryl Hart and Vincent Lattimore.