April 1, 2026
UUP members throughout the state joined millions of Americans across the nation March 28 for the third national No Kings day of action against the destruction of and threats to democracy imposed by the sitting president of the United States.
UUP President Fred Kowal spoke at the Oneonta rally, where more than 1,200 people filled an open field a block from the center of downtown. In addition to a strong turnout by Oneonta Chapter members, the audience included NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer and former UUP Vice President for Professionals Philippe Abraham.
In the Madison County town of Hamilton, statewide Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O’Bryan-Losee, Morrisville Chapter President Steve Hinkle and chapter member Alex Rendina—dressed in an inflatable frog suit—weathered snow flurries to join the protest on a brisk Saturday afternoon.
UUP statewide Membership Development Officer Patrick Romain was at the No Kings rally in Albany. In Buffalo, the UUP Buffalo Center Chapter staffed tables in Buffalo’s downtown Niagara Square and also in Amherst to assist members who turned out for protests in both locations. UUP members also attended events in Albany, Patchogue and Potsdam.
An ongoing effort to protect democracy
Virginia Kennedy, an Oneonta Chapter member and the group leader of Cooperstown Oneonta Indivisible, led the rally and a march through town afterward. A coalition of regional groups organized the Oneonta event, including three regional chapters of Indivisible, the pro-democracy and voting rights group.
“It’s so important that people come out and secure their First Amendment rights,” Kennedy said as she prepared to lead an hour of impassioned speeches and protest songs of 60 years ago that have taken on a renewed resonance in the last year. “We work every day [on this], and not just at rallies.”
Kowal bounded onto the stage joined by several UUP members. He exuded energy and enthusiasm and barely needed a microphone to reach the farthest edges of the crowd.
“It’s a great day to be in Oneonta!” he called out in greeting. “We’ve got union members, we’ve got working people here. No matter what the billionaires and the Epstein clan try to throw at us, we’ve got the power and we will face them down … Peace now! Justice now! Freedom now! We can do it!”
Off stage, Kowal gave a reflective response when asked if repeated national days of action like this one do any good. This third No Kings national day of action involved several thousand protests attended by millions of people around the United States and in other countries. Organizers estimated at least 8 million people participated in No Kings 3 rallies and events held in over 3,300 locations in all 50 states.
The March 28 events followed similarly massive rallies in June 2025 and October 2025 to protest a regime carrying out an immigration crackdown that has ignored both constitutional rights and federal court orders and which has sent the military into several U.S. cities—all of them Democratic strongholds—on the pretense of stopping crime. The president’s decision to start a war with Iran a month ago, with no notification to or authorization by Congress, added impetus to the March 28 event.
“It is a powerful display of opposition to the regime,” Kowal said, and he then added, “It’s time for a new form of resistance.”
Exactly what that new form of resistance would look like is not yet clear, Kowal said, but many national organizations concerned about the attack on American democracy are studying some of the coordinated economic tactics used in Minnesota. The main sign that Kowal sees: Millions of Americans are not going to remain silent in the face of the worst attack on democracy in the history of the country.
Angry, upbeat and undaunted
The atmosphere at the Oneonta rally was boisterous and protesters projected an attitude of determination in their audible enthusiasm and the creative signs they carried. (“The only monarch I want,” read one sign decorated with illustrations of monarch butterflies. “Know your parasites,” read another that continued the insect theme, with illustrations of deer and dog ticks and then a photograph of the president next to the identifier of “Lunatick.”)
People blew whistles in a tribute to Minnesotans who spent the winter using whistles as a rallying cry to signal the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose agents shot and killed two peaceful protesters at point-blank range.
The Oneonta crowd cheered when a freight train blew its horn as it passed by on the track adjacent to the field. But when a can’t-miss-pink pickup truck displaying a fluttering bedspread-sized Trump banner drove slowly by the rally, it didn’t generate so much as a single jeer.
Watch the UUP newsletter, UUPConnect, for information on other rallies and marches.
Click HERE to find union-supported actions and rallies.