In an act of solidarity on November 17, the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, more than fifty 1199SEIU New Jersey members made the trip to New York City, where they gathered with their fellow union members at Foley Square in lower Manhattan.

The gathering was part of a “National Day of Action” and came just two days after authorities dismantled the Zuccotti Park encampment in New York City’s Financial District, which had become the geographic center of the movement. Carrying signs with phrases such as, “We are the 99%” and “Healthcare, not corporate welfare”, the group of New Jersey nursing home workers expressed their support for the principles that define the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations across the country.

“We’re fed up. We work hard, we pay our taxes,” said Eveta Regilus, a CNA at Arnold Walter Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hazlet, NJ.

“It’s time for us to be able to earn a decent living doing what we do.” The evening began with a march that originated at Foley Square, where thousands of protesters had amassed before marching toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Barriers blocked pedestrian traffic, and a considerable police presence had been deployed.

The actions in New York followed an earlier rally outside the New Jersey state house in Trenton, which had been sponsored by the Mid-Jersey MoveOn Council and several labor organizations. A dedicated group of 1199SEIU New Jersey members braved the cold and rainy weather to speak up for jobs and for the rights of working class families across the state. The demonstrators unfurled a large banner that read, “Jobs, Not Cuts,” to which cars honked their horns expressing their support. The rally at the New Jersey state house was organized to highlight the need for more jobs and to find solutions to the real challenges working families are facing across the state.