May 14th, 2025: President's Message

Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Leticia James, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, Congressman John Mannion, dozens of legislators, clergy members, and community leaders from all over the state joined together at Bethany Baptist Church on Monday to bid farewell to Van Robinson, a great civil rights, community and political leader.

Van, who passed away earlier this month, was also a fervent and devoted supporter of worker’s rights and labor unions. An executive at a health insurance company for decades, he was that rare management figure who believed that workers are best served when they are represented by a labor union.

Brother Robinson joined our striking workers on the picket line at the old Hotel Syracuse back in 1989. Billy Burdick, a striking cook at the hotel and later one of our union stewards, recalls Van coming by and joining the picket line downtown and reminding us to never give up! That was classic Van Robinson.

After the 129 Day strike was won, and I became President/Business Manager of Local 150, it was Van who helped me understand how to negotiate the health care portions of our labor agreements. He also introduced our Union to the NAACP as an ally in our mutual struggles for social justice.

Van Robinson  was the President of the Syracuse Common Council when the first Living Wage Ordinance in the City was approved and signed into law in 2012. Organized labor in Central New York has lost an ally the likes of whom we will not see for a long time.

We salute him as we mourn his passing and extend our condolences to his wife Linda and their family.