NEW YORK HOSPITAL WORKERS
Whatever it takes, as long as it takes
By Derrick Duncan
& Anne Pruden
1199 Service Employee delegates
New York
Some 2,000 health-care workers chant ed, "Ain't no stopping
us now!" as they marched and protested in Bronxville, N.Y., on
April 20.
Called by Lawrence Hospital workers and the 1199 Service
Employees union from New York, the protest was an angry
response to hospital management. Not only has it recently taken
some sick time away, but many workers are paid only $7 an
hour.
As a result, most of the more oppressed workers had recently
signed up to join the union. Suddenly the Lawrence bosses
brought a Kentucky-based union-busting firm on the scene.
Workers were coerced, intimidated, lied to and threatened to
stop them from voting in the union. Anti-union thugs
interrupted workers on the job and at their homes.
As a result, the vote on March 29 was 129 to 119 against
union representation. The April 20 protesters wore lab coats
with "JUSTICE" written on the back. They carried placards
reading "Whatever It Takes, As Long As It Takes."
These workers don't forget their union's history. In 1965, a
55-day strike by mostly Black and Latino hospital workers
sought union recognition for Local ll99. Famous labor and
civil-rights leaders like A. Phillip Randolph led thousands of
demonstrators in that struggle.
Actor-activist Ossie Davis was arrested on a charge of civil
disobedience. The 1965 struggle in Bronxville helped push the
law recognizing the right of workers in all nonprofit hospitals
to join unions.
The Lawrence Hospital workers' committee, with union
officials and Ossie Davis, led the spirited march April 20 in
Bronxville. Speakers included Jay Adams. A hospital
phlebotomist for 17 years, Adams insisted, "We have unfinished
business, because our basic rights were denied in our work
place."
State union leaders spoke in solidarity. They said the labor
movement would not tolerate what happened at Lawrence Hospital.
The National Labor Relations Board is to consider a new
election.
There was a loud response when 1199 Service Employees
President Dennis Rivera said this organizing drive was not only
a labor struggle but also a civil-rights struggle. Rivera also
quoted the famous Jamaican political singer/activist Bob
Marley: "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but
you can't fool all the people all the time. ...Get up, stand
up, stand up for your rights!"
The rally ended with a militant cry by the health-care
workers: "We'll be back!"
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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