Victory for Upstate New York Hospital Workers

We did it" was the word from CWAers throughout New York State when the Department of Health announced that key hospitals in upstate New York — where CWA members work — would remain open.

The department determined that St. Joseph Hospital in Buffalo and DeGraff Memorial in North Tonowanda will remain open as acute care and emergency facilities, providing critical services for residents and maintaining jobs for workers — including members of CWA Local 1168 in the Buffalo area.

The state government also will provide grants to the Kaleida Health system to relocate the services now provided at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital to the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. CWA is continuing to work with Gates Hospital management to make the transition as seamless as possible; the hospital committed that "no jobs would be lost" after the state Berger Commission announced plans in December 2006 to close hospitals throughout the state, said CWA Local 1168 President John Klein.

"When the closings were first announced in December 2006, CWA started mobilizing across the state to build community and political support to keep the hospitals open," said District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton.

"Members collected tens of thousands of 'We Believe' and 'Save Our Emergency Room' postcards, held news conferences and rallies and in the winter's cold, marched 300 miles from Buffalo to the state capitol in Albany to show legislators that we were determined to keep open these critical facilities," he said.

Local 1168 members Dawn Mele and Pat Sullivan walked the entire distance, joined for most of the journey by Klein, with CWAers providing companionship and support along the way. The marchers braved temperatures as low as 10 degrees, along with rain and driving winds. Shelton and CWA President Larry Cohen joined marchers just outside of Albany.

"We were determined to get our message across to our political leaders that these hospitals are needed, and closing them would be a hardship for many thousands of people," Klein said.