August 3, 2026
Women’s Rally Against Speaker Menin:
Stop the Sexist Violence of 24-hour Workday Torture
International women’s rights organizations, activists, queer, trans women and men, caregivers, mothers and daughters, gathered to support home care workers’ hunger strike, and demand Menin to bring the original No More 24 Act to a vote.
Despite having “women in power,” NYC is the only city in the world that has government-sponsored 24-hour workdays for women. After the United Nations denounced it as torture & devaluation of care work, NYC Speaker Julie Menin still tried to sabotage the No More 24 Act to legitimize this torture. Julie Menin’s sabotaging of the bill is an insult to working women and their loved ones; the rally called on people from all genders and backgrounds to stand with home care workers. In the end, home care workers announced mobilization for a big protest on October 3rd.
Xue Zhen Chen, a mother and home care worker who worked 24-hour shifts for 10 years, said “Most of us home attendants are women; when we return home, we still have to care for our own families—there is no rest! This has caused me to suffer from cervical spine pain and severe stomach ailments! Today, we say: the 24-hour workday is not only an act of violence against home attendants but also demeans everyone who provides care—including mothers and sisters everywhere! We call upon women and mothers everywhere to come out for a massive protest on October 3rd!”
Xue Zhen Chen speaking at rally
Lisa Goldenberg Corn, founder of Downtown Nasty Women Social Group, said “It seems that when the NYC government talks about giving dignity to union workers, they are only talking about men in hard hats. Why are they abandoning the women union workers? Women deserve dignity too! Our government is stealing the wages, the time, the health, and the lives of these women. How much longer will Speaker Menin allow the government to keep stealing from these women?”
San San Lin, a representative for Julie Won, City Councilmember for District 26, said “No one should have to choose between their health and their livelihood. No worker should be expected to endure exhausting 24-hour shifts. Home care workers do some of the most essential work in our city. They take care of our loved ones and neighbors. Pass this bill now.”
San San Lin speaking at rally
Kathryn Freed, former City Councilmember, said “Home care agencies do not care about women’s lives. They do not even care that the UN says it is torture, because our city hall, our speaker, says it is okay. This society does not value the work of women. How come home care workers are not as valuable as the guys who use and abuse others and gets rich? It is time, we have to get this bill signed, the right version which covers union workers.”
Kathryn Freed speaking at rally
Ayo Harrington, with the Coalition for a District Alternative, said “In 2026, women of color workers are still being asked to endure. They are the backbone of our long-term care system. The fact that these women of color workers are expected to work 24 hours, is unacceptable. It is a painful reminder that the work women do, especially giving care, is undervalued and under-protected.”
Nyierre Edwards, from Brothas Express, said “Women are the most overlooked, ignored, undervalued workers and people in the world. We’re told because 24-hour shifts are done out of the kindness of their heart, we don’t need to end 24-hour home care shifts for these primarily women of color. That is a lie. Nobody wants to work 24 hours outside their home, drained of energy, separated from their families. Julie Menin doesn’t support women.”
Aly, from Gabriela, said “Filipino migrant home care workers work long hours, losing sleep and skipping meals – not because we consent to the 24-hour workday – but because we’re left with very few options under this rotten economic system. As Filipino workers, we deserve lasting solutions to address the abuse and exploitation we face in the workplace.”
Shirley Ranz, from the National Organization for Women (NOW), said “This is a woman’s issue and NOW supports the No More 24 Act. They are ashamed that a woman, who is head of the City Council, is trying to undermine it.”
Shirley Ranz speaking at rally
Tenzin Namgyal, a union member at the University of Utah, said “The 24-hour workday is violence against women. Speaker Menin can’t hide and perpetuate this culture of silence. If you don’t pass the No More 24 Bill, you will go down as the woman who tortures other women, and who says that in New York City, violence against women is acceptable.”
Alexandra, from YeCao Wild Grass Collective, said “Julie Menin, we have been here for a week, the workers are starving, and we know you are watching. How dare you just see women’s bodies being destroyed and do nothing about it? Your anti-woman politics are dehumanizing care work and the women who are caring for our communities. Your silence is complicity, and your hands are in the blood of exploited women. Pass the No More 24 Act, abolish the 24-hour workday!”
Sponsored by Chinese Staff & Workers Association, Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee, Disability Education & Advocacy Network of WNY, Flushing Workers Center, National Organization for Women NYS, NYC DSA Socialist Feminists, Staten Island DSA, National Mobilization Against SweatShops, Downtown Independent Democrats, Downtown Nasty Women & Gabriela NY
