Carrying signs that said, “Astorino is Bad for New York” and “Astorino, Wrong Way”, dozens of 1199SEIU members joined union hotel workers, women’s health advocates, marriage equality supporters and other progressive voices outside of the New York Republican Convention in Rye Brook to protest the party’s nomination of Rob Astorino for Governor. Astorino, the current Westchester County Executive was nominated on May 15. He will be running against incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo in the November 4 election.

The purpose of the action was to begin to educate the public about Astorino’s positions, which protesters say would move New York backward, not forward. New York 1199ers fought hard to pass the Marriage Equality Act and there is still work to do on many other social justice issues. For instance, the Women’s Equality Act, which ensures women’s equal rights under the law, has not yet passed both houses of the state legislature.

Demonstrators voiced concerned that Rob Astorino opposes a woman’s right to choose and marriage equality. “That’s not the New York way,” said Anita Durham, an 1199SEIU homecare worker from Manhattan. “He doesn’t represent the values of most New Yorkers. He’s running on a platform that will divide New Yorkers, rather than unite us. When the rights of women, immigrants, the LBGT community and people of color are at risk – so is the well-being of the entire state.”

Bill Dennison, a Yonkers resident and former Vice-President of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, said, “I’ve been watching Astorino for a while since he represents the county where I live. He has prevented affordable housing from going up and opposed a women’s right to choose, making it more difficult for women to get the health care they need. We can’t afford those types of backward policies to be imposed on New York. I’m afraid he may just be the Paul Ryan of our great state.”

The New York State Democratic Convention begins on May 21, on Long Island.