Rx at Downstate: Strike to Stop Hospital Closing

The leaders of the three unions at Downstate won’t lead that fight. They aren´t interested in fighting the bosses. They prefer to be on their side and they pin their hopes on making deals with politicians. One of the unions, CSEA, even agreed to a contract that gave no raise for 2011 or 2012, and only a “bonus” for 2013. It took away nine days pay while imposing higher deductions for health care. Despite that deal, there have been 400 layoff letters, and 600 more are on the way. So much for relying on the politicians.
But we, the workers, have recent examples, such as the Chicago teachers’ strike, where workers, students, parents and the community united to grow the capacity and potential of the workers. At Downstate we have to place ourselves on red alert, and stand up and fight against the layoffs and the passivity of the unions. The fight can give us what the boss wants to take away.  
The U.S. capitalists are trying to squeeze from workers the cost of the bosses’ battle with other imperialists for “top-dog” status in the world. But that doesn’t mean they are broke. They are happy to spend money on themselves. They say there´s no money to maintain the hospital, but they’ve given out contracts for new buildings. The administrators’ salaries used to reach $500,000 a year — but now they’ve gone up to over $700,000! There´s money. We the workers, provide the state with taxes. We pay for everything, including their wars. When politicians make deals to make each other rich, that is our money, too. We are paying the money that could maintain our hospital and our jobs — but it is being used against us. The bosses never have been, and never will be interested in solving our problems. Let’s remember that all the benefits we have are a product of our fight; nothing has been given to us by the bosses.
But to change all this, we must do more. We have held protests with the community, students and patients. Hundreds have signed up for a protest in Albany January 8th.  But we need more: A permanent campaign, with weekly protests in the entrances of the hospital and around it, forums, talks and preparation for a strike to stop the closing.
In the long run, the working class needs much more. Capitalists don´t care about our health. PLP fights for class consciousness, for workers understanding and acting as a class against our enemy, the bosses. We must organize workers to once and for all destroy this system of misery, and to build  a new society, run by workers, which will make healthcare a priority. JOIN US!