Purple hats and gold thunder sticks carrying the message, "Enough is Enough", filled Albany's West Capitol Park on Thursday as some 5,000 1199SEIU caregivers rallied to protest another round of healthcare budget cuts proposed by New York's Governor David Paterson.

The Governor's proposed $278 million in Medicaid cuts would cause the state to lose a total of $746 million, when federal matching funds are figured in. For every dollar cut in state Medicaid funding, New York loses $2.60 from Washington.

In the past two years, healthcare funding has already been cut six times by the legislature, with a combined loss of over $2.2 billion, resulting in the loss of several hospitals and nursing homes in distressed areas.

Ros Hampton, an LPN and longtime 1199SEIU Delegate in Buffalo, rally inspired the crowd when she asked, "Governor Paterson, is this any way to treat the most vulnerable members of our society that have paid their dues? Our elderly need to be treated like the kings and queens they are, but how can we do that with these outrageous budget cuts?"

Paulette Abrams, an 1199SEIU homecare worker with the Social Concern Homecare Agency, told the rally, "I've been a homecare worker for 19 years and I'm here to tell Governor Paterson that our patients and all of our families cannot survive any more cuts to homecare. Our clients won't be able to get the care they need and we won't be able to pay our bills."

1199SEIU caregivers came to Albany from as far away as the tip of Long Island and up to the Canadian borders of Western and Northern New York. They were joined by hospital and nursing home executives, who understand the devastating impact of these cuts.

In August, we took our message of health care reform to our elected officials during town halls all across the country, and they listened. But, now that they are back in Washington, they are again under the influence of the insurance industry, which is fighting hard to defeat real reform.

So now we need to take on the insurance industry! Today, SEIU members all over the country took part in the "Big Insurance: Sick of It" rallies hosted by MoveOn, HCAN and our other progressive allies. From LA to New York, members arrived at offices of major health insurance providers and demanded to know why they were standing in the way of health care reform.

MINNESOTA: Fifty SEIU members joined nearly 250 other activists in marching up to the doors of UnitedHealthcare. They presented their demands to UHC representatives, and staged a 15-minute die-in to bring home the point that insurance companies are truly killing Americans. Local member Tammy Brown, who participated in the protest, said, "Big insurance companies are a roadblock to reform. As long as they keeping reaping record profits, the rest of us will keep losing our raises, our health, and even our lives."

FLORIDA: A group of 60 people protested outside the headquarters of Hygeia, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare Group. A delegation of eight protestors met with Hygeia representatives and presented them with their demands.

NORTH DAKOTA: Fifty local activists met with the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield in Fargo, North Dakota. She promised that BCBS would respond to their demands in writing by Friday, and suggested they also meet with the company's CEO.

NEBRASKA: A small group of SEIU members and supporters, led by a local pastor, formed a prayer circle outside the offices of UnitedHealthcare. The pastor also tried to deliver the group's demands to UHC executives, but the staff locked the doors to the building and would not let him enter.

NEW YORK: About 500 people attended an event outside the UHC offices at 1 Penn Plaza. One of the speakers, a new member of 32BJ, recounted how he was forced to go into debt paying for his wife's cancer treatment. Recently, he finally received health insurance, which has allowed him to pay for her medication.

COLORADO: Over 150 people, including 40 SEIU members, protested outside the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield building in Denver. Three of the participants shared their personal stories about being denied health insurance. Their stories were then underscored by a street theater demonstration that made the same point. The event culminated with three activists attempting to deliver the protestors' demands to BCBS officials. They were turned away at the front door.

CALIFORNIA: Up and down California, SEIU members joined with other activists to take the "Big Insurance: Sick of It" message to the offices of Wellpoint Blue Cross in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. And in Santa Ana, United Healthcare got the same message. Over 700 participated in the actions including 265 SEIU members from locals in every division of the union.

How much is a worker's life worth? Answer: $7,000

Remember back in November of last year when we told you the tragic story of Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old temporary worker at a Long Island Wal-mart who was crushed to death by a mob of shoppers storming the store for Black Friday deals?

The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, [Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael] Fleming said.

"Several minutes" passed before others were able to clear space around the man and attempt to render aid. Police arrived, and "as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed," he said.

"Shoppers ... were on a full-out run into the store," he said.

Well, yesterday OSHA announced the results of their investigation into the incident -- and their findings confirm that the tragedy was entirely preventable:

OSHA's inspection found that the store's employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the store's failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles. This failure includes providing employees with the necessary training and tools to safely manage the large crowd of shoppers.

Mr. Damour's death, in other words, was no accident. It was not a freak occurrence nobody could have foreseen. It was predictable, given Wal-Mart's failure to take appropriate measures to deal with the near-riot situation their marketing department had whipped up.

So what's the punishment for shocking corporate negligence that results in the death of a worker? OSHA hit them with the maximum fine allowable by law -- $7,000.

That's right. Seven thousand dollars.

From 1199SEIU ~

The Healthcare Education Project (HEP), a joint initiative of 1199SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) has begun airing two new television ads urging Governor David Paterson to use a portion of the nearly $11 billion in Medicaid funding New York State will receive under the federal economic stimulus package to avoid massive health care cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, and home care.

The new ad, which praises President Obama for recognizing states' dire need for fiscal relief, is part of HEP's ongoing campaign to educate New Yorkers about the hugely destructive effect Governor Paterson's proposed $3.5 billion in health care cuts--including $2 billion in cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, and home health--would have on patients and communities across New York.

Sometimes symbols appear unexpectedly.

Jdimytai Damour, a temporary Wal-Mart worker, became a symbol to millions of low-wage workers last Friday when he died a needless death because Wal-Mart failed to take the necessary precautions to protect him. He became a symbol of those workers quietly yielding to unsafe working conditions because they have no voice. Americans need Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act next year so that deaths like Mr. Damour's, and so many other deaths and injuries to low-wage workers on the job can be avoided in the future.

In 2007 a respected human rights watchdog group, Human Rights Watch, released a report critical of Wal-Mart's union-busting policies and practices in the United States. According to the report, "while many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus." Wal-Mart's opposition to its workers exercising their legal right to organize has even extended to terminating entire departments and closing entire stores.

For example, in February 2000, ten employees of the Wal-Mart meat department in a Jacksonville, Texas, store elected United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) as their union. Wal-Mart immediately scrapped their entire network of in-store butcher departments nationwide. And in Jonquière, Quebec, after the birth of a certified UFCW Local at a Wal-Mart store and a decision by the Minister of Labor for Quebec to grant the union's request for contract arbitration, Wal-Mart announced that it would close the Jonquière store.

The result of this behavior is that workers are denied a seat at the table to contribute to setting standards that protect them on the job. In the absence of such contributions, management is free to set whatever standards it deems appropriate and workers are obligated to go along if they wish to keep their jobs. To make matters worse, Wal-Mart store management's compensation is based on bonus systems that encourage cutting labor costs, resulting in more temporary workers. Temporary workers like Damour are particularly vulnerable in that environment because they have neither the context nor the influence to express reservations when asked to perform certain duties.

Without a union it is entirely up to Wal-Mart's management to determine whether or not they took legitimate precautions to prevent this incident. In the absence of union representation, let me suggest if it is not already obvious from the events that unfolded, that Wal-Mart failed on at least a few levels to protect its employees and its customers.

First, it appears there was a shortage of adequate security at the doors. Wal-Mart has still not released how many guards were present at the time to control the rushing crowd of 2000 people. Second, the company used at least some temporary workers including Mr. Damour who were not familiar with what to expect on Black Friday. Third, as some news reports have pointed out, unlike other retailers Wal-Mart did not provide tickets for store entry or offer rain-checks for any items that were sold out. All of these choices contributed to the tragic events of that day and the workers who were on the line that morning had no say in making any of them.

More low-wage workers need a voice in their workplace. The current system of certifying a union has failed because employers have found ways to thwart the process, and the federal government has failed to prevent that interference or to protect workers right to organize in any meaningful way. It is time for a change.

Next year, by passing the Employee Free Choice Act, Congress can provide that change. No one will force workers to organize a union, but they will be freer to do so if they choose. I believe that many of them will seek a union for all the reasons that people have wanted unions in the past including workplace safety. Sadly and unexpectedly, Jdimytai Damour will be a symbol for that fight and a powerful reminder of how workers are taken advantage of every day.

(Cross-posted by permission from Huffington Post)

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In case you missed it........Wal-Mart Watch announced in late Nov. that it would be joining efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that Wal-Mart's employees and other workers around the country will have the choice to form a union to advocate for better wages and benefits. To martial all available resources toward this effort, Wal-Mart Watch has merged its operations into SEIU to share knowledge and expertise and best serve the efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Read the joint statement here.

>> Learn more about Employee Free Choice