10,000 cross Golden Gate Bridge
Union workers on the march for health care
By Brenda Sandburg
San Francisco
Enshrouded in fog and tousled by a light
breeze, 10,000 Service Employees union members and supporters
walked across the Golden Gate Bridge June 19 to demand
affordable health care for all.
Cars and trucks honked in support as people on the bridge
raised their fists and cheered. A helicopter carrying a huge
banner proclaiming "Health Care For All" circled over the
bridge and along the shore of the Bay.
The multinational crowd included people of all ages. Some
health-care workers marched in their lab coats. Parents pushed
youngsters in strollers. SEIU members lined the route,
applauding people and con tributing to the celebratory
atmosphere.
The June 19 event was part of the Health Care National Day
of Action sponsored by SEIU's Americans for Health Care, Jobs
with Justice and Rock the Vote. The "Bridge the Gap for Health
Care" walk in San Francisco was the anchor event in marches and
rallies held in 165 cities in all 50 states.
In many cities, the marches for health care joined with
celebrations of Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery in the
United States. While the SEIU has locals in both Canada and the
United States, there weren't any marches in Canada-in that
country access to health care is a right.
The actions coincided with SEIU's quadrennial convention,
held in San Francisco this year. Thousands of union members
from around the country gathered at Crissy Field. The path up
to the bridge was a sea of purple as SEIU members wearing the
union's trademark colored jackets began the trek across the
nearly mile-long bridge. A mariachi band played at the foot of
the bridge as people began the walk.
Health care has become a luxury that fewer and fewer people
have access to in the U.S. Forty-four million Americans are
without health care coverage and millions more are
under-insured.
At a rally following the march, Lisa Scott of Iowa described
the horror of not having health insurance. Scott's daughter
Janelle died at the age of 18 because doctors refused to
perform tests and X-rays necessary to diagnose her illness.
"They saw a faceless, uninsured girl," Scott said. "They
never ran one test to diagnose what was wrong. In the medical
records it is written 'this girl has no insurance' ... The
health-care system violated her right to live."
Several other unions also participated in the San Francisco
action, including the United Food and Commercial Workers, the
United Farm Workers, the Inter na tional Longshore and
Warehouse Union, the Laborers and the Sheet Metal Workers.
A woman who has worked for Safeway for 20 years spoke of the
recent strike of California grocery workers.
"Grocery workers are not rich people," she said. "For some
health care is all we have ... We will not sit calmly by and
allow evil to triumph. California workers will defend our
health care."
Reprinted from the July 1, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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