Fight-Back Thwarts Hospital Frame-up of Militant Retiree

BROOKLYN, NY, January 5 — Four months of struggle to fight false criminal charges against Ira Wechsler, a retired hospital worker active in the continuing struggle to fight cutbacks and the intended closing of Downstate Medical Center, have been rewarded with victory.  On Dec. 4, the Brooklyn DA had to drop the charges, which were trumped up to try to split workers’ unity against the cuts.

Ira, recently retired from Woodhull Medical Center, is a long-time District 1199 union member. The charges grew out of collusion between corrupt 1199 union officials and the bosses of the merged SUNY Downstate-Long Island College Hospital  medical complex. They want to defeat the rank-and-file rebellion against their plans to destroy health care for predominantly black workers from the West Indies.

A mass rally in June, organized with little assistance from the three unions that represent the bulk of Downstate workers, sparked the rebellion by grounds workers, nurses, and technical workers. A determined rank and file leadership was able to move the workers to act in spite of misleadership from union officials.

The union misleaders called  a rally in mid-July to try to take the initiative away from the rank-and-file. Ira spoke against the leadership at a Downstate workers’ meeting. After leaving this rally, hospital police arrested Ira for “trespassing” as he walked to a bus stop. The move was driven solely by their desperate need to intimidate workers from fighting back.

Workers at Downstate collected over 200 signatures demanding the charges against Ira be dropped. At least 50 other signatures were collected at other Brooklyn healthcare facilities.  Several hospital workers and friends attended the legal proceeding to make sure the courts knew of the solid support for their brother. 

While this was a victory, it was not the end of the struggle. NY Governor Cuomo and his class henchman continue to plan cutbacks in health care for workers and in jobs for healthcare workers. Racism has been the cutting edge of these cutbacks in facilities and programs that serve mainly black and Latino working-class neighborhoods. But Cuomo plans to spread these cuts to the entire working class with Medicaid “redesign” engineered by Wall Street point man Steven Berger.

PLP members have been distributing hundreds of Challenges to Downstate workers every issue.  We need to recruit hospital workers involved in this struggle and develop mass consciousness that capitalism, not just some “bad” bosses, is destroying workers’ lives. This will lead to smashing the racist system that measures our lives in dollars and cents. Under communism, healthcare will be available to all. Only a revolution led by PLP can bring these changes.