NEW YORK NURSE: December 2007

Take care of those who care!

Related article: State awards millions to healthcare facilities

by Nancy Webber

A coalition of labor, consumer, and community organizations has asked the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to consider the human cost of implementing the Berger law.

“Healthcare facilities are being closed and downsized because of a unilateral, political decision by New York State,” said Carol Pittman, Community Affairs Liaison for the NYSNA Economic & General Welfare (EGW) Program. “This places an obligation on the state to provide assistance and support to the workers who are the victims of this political process.”

It is estimated that between 6,000 and 36,000 healthcare workers will be displaced by the Berger law. “The state must consider the human cost of these layoffs, as many of these workers lose income, healthcare coverage, pension benefits, and hard-earned seniority rights,” said Pittman.

NYSNA was one of the founding organizations of the Save Our Safety Net Campaign (SOS-C) and drafted the letter that was signed by coalition members and sent to Health Commissioner Richard Daines. The coalition asked Daines to ensure that minimum basic needs of the displaced workforce be addressed by the state through the allocation of funds and resources for:

• Direct assistance to displaced workers so they can continue their current health coverage or secure alternative health insurance while they are between jobs;
• Education, retraining, and re-employment assistance specifically for workers whose jobs are eliminated as a result of the Berger process; and
• Preventing employers from utilizing the Berger process as an opportunity to evade labor laws.

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