Brattleboro Reformer, Labor Day Weekend Editorial
http://www.reformer.com/localeditorials/ci_10330416
(also ran in Burlington Free Press, Rutland Herald and Bennington Banner)
By Dawn Stanger
Friday, August 29
BURLINGTON — The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, proclaimed, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care."
Although these principles were adopted at the urging of the United States, our government has failed to achieve these rights for all of us. Our rights to health and medical care are denied by a private, for-profit health insurance system. We are the wealthiest country in the world. What good is government if it doesn't help us to do together what we can't achieve individually?
Labor Day honors the contributions of our grandparents and great-grandparents who struggled to create a better society for us.
There is a saying, "The Labor Movement: The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend," but united workers struggled for more than just the 40-hour week. The minimum wage, Social Security, the end of child labor, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and more all were the results of their work. We are proud of our ancestors and toast them.
But in the U.S., that list falls short.
For the Vermont Workers' Center, Labor Day 2008 marks a renewal of the struggle to make health care a basic human right, not linked to employment or income. Now, only rich people can afford care from the "cradle to grave." It is a moral imperative that we createAdvertisementa new system that recognizes this basic human right for all of us.
This summer, our folks have been all over the state surveying Vermonters. The question, "Do you believe we have a human right to health care?" is just one being asked as part of our "Health Care is a Human Right" campaign. We aim to change what's politically possible with grassroots organizing among regular Vermonters.
Health care should not be a marketed commodity upon which the few get rich denying care, while the many die, suffer and amass huge debts. The private health insurance system has failed. This is not just a crisis of the "uninsured." It's a crisis the insured as well.
We already knew that 50 percent of all bankruptcies were caused by health care costs, but we didn't yet have personal stories from Vermonters. The survey responses we have collected from hundreds of Vermonters have been real eye-openers. Approximately two-thirds of those surveyed have refrained from getting treatment or drugs because they couldn't afford it.
A majority has kept jobs for fear of losing health insurance. Almost one in five experienced discrimination accessing care. More than one in 10 stayed in abusive relationships for insurance. Now we'd like to learn even more from you.
We collect surveys by knocking on neighbors' doors, and talking at work, community events, and house parties hosted by volunteers (and we can always use more). Next, we'll host "Human Rights Hearings," where community leaders can hear from those most affected: working Vermonters, the unemployed, retirees, the un- and under-insured. The Vermont Workers Center expects to hold hearings in Brattleboro, Burlington, Barre and the Northeast Kingdom in coming months, expanding from there. We hope, for all Vermont's families, that some Labor Day in the years to come we'll celebrate the successful struggle of working families for the basic human right to health care.
Dawn Stanger is president of the Vermont Workers' Center and a Teamster who works for United Parcel Service. For more information about the campaign, to volunteer or take the survey, contact the Vermont Workers' Center at 866-229-0009 or visit www.workerscenter.org/healthcare.
Healthcare Is A Human Right
Northrup Grumman workers contribute "ethics" posters to company contest
Northrop Grumman, one of the companies that employs service center workers fighting for a first contract in St. Albans, held an "ethics" themed poster contest. UE Local 208 Northrop Grumman employees created their own submissions to the contest. See more of their posters at justiceatuscis.org . Also, on August 18th Workers' Center members helped lead a community/worker delegation which included State Senator Ginny Lyons and State Rep. Chris Pearson to the regional office of Homeland Security in South Burlington. We went to ask them to tell their DC adminstration the community was concerned and that the workers deserve livable wages. Here is a link to photo and recap»
Healthcare Campaign Off to a Great Start
This summer, volunteers and staff from the Vermont Workers' Center have been asking working Vermonters a simple question — "Do you believe we have a human right to healthcare?"
That question is part of a survey being conducted as the first phase of the Workers' Center's Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign. This campaign aims to change what is "politically possible" in the healthcare debate through grassroots organizing and expanding public understanding of the human rights framework. "Sixty years ago, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the nations of the world — including the U.S. — declared that everyone has a basic human right to medical care and security in the event of sickness or disability," said Dawn Stanger, president of the Workers' Center. "Sadly, that right is not respected in the U.S., the wealthiest country in the world."
So far, the Center has surveyed over four hundred Vermonters, with a goal of reaching well over a thousand this fall. Some of the survey results have been eye-openers. Approximately two-thirds of respondents had refrained from getting health care at some point because they felt they were unable to afford it. A majority have stayed in a job only because of health insurance benefits. Almost one in five have experienced discrimination in trying to access healthcare, and more than one in ten respondents have stayed in an abusive relationship in order not to lose health benefits.
Surveys are being collected door-to-door, in workplaces, at community events and house parties hosted by volunteers. "The effort is really to try to speak to people who haven’t been involved in politics before," said Colin Robinson of the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, which is joining the Workers' Center in the campaign.
The next stage of the campaign will feature Human Rights Hearings in locations around the state in the fall, where community leaders will gather to hear testimony from those most affected by the healthcare crisis: working Vermonters, the unemployed, retirees, the un- and under-insured. The Workers' Center expects to hold hearings in Brattleboro, Burlington, Barre and the Northeast Kingdom in the coming months, expanding to more locations as the campaign continues.
For more information about the campaign, to volunteer or take the survey, contact VWC Healthcare Organizer Erika Simard at 861-2877 (Burlington) or 866-229-0009 (toll-free), or visit workerscenter.org/healthcare
BURLINGTON LABOR DAY CELEBRATION
Monday,
September 1st
PARADE
PICNIC
CONCERT
at BATTERY PARK
PARADE: 10:30am gather at the Waterman Building parking lot, UVM off South Prospect Street, march down Main Street to downtown and end at Battery Park.
FREE PICNIC: with Ben & Jerry's ICE CREAM at Battery Park
GREAT MUSIC: Utah Phillips Tribute Concert to Benefit the Vermont Workers' Center
This fun family event celebrates the contributions of working people in this state and unites Vermonters across workforces in the ongoing struggle to raise the standards in our communities. If your organization is interested in marching in the parade, call Maria at 658-3113 to register with the Labor Day Celebration Committee.
Tribute Concert: The concert is free with suggested donations to go to the Vermont Workers' Center, a working families organization located at 294 North Winooski Avenue. The Vermont Workers' Center has launched the Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign and helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition.
Utah Phillips (1935 - 2008): the great folksinger, storyteller and labor activist, passed away this May. Utah performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents singing and collecting the songs of working people and the workers' movement for decades. He made two Grammy nominated albums with Ani Difranco called Fellow Worker and History Didn't Go Anywhere. Local bands and performers will include: John Holland, The Trout River Crew, Andy Lugo (Second Agenda), Electric Halo, Andy Schlatter, Nick Gruswitz, Julie Winn & Jonathan Kissam and many more. More info on concert call James at 861-2877