From the Desk of the Assistant to the Vice President of CWA District 1

Across District 1, our members are feeling the strain. In New Jersey, state and local government workers are facing double-digit increases in healthcare premiums year after year in a broken State Health Benefits System. In New York, many of our members and retirees are being hit with costs that are simply unaffordable. And across the Northeast, we see how increasing cost of care is threatening our members and their families. At the same time, healthcare workers continue to feel the strain of understaffing and lack of resources as hospital systems cut costs — even while the costs to patients and our families just keeps going up. 

This crisis is touching every sector, every state, and every job title.

This didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of a healthcare system that treats working people like piggy banks. We’re stuck in a system that for too long has operated in the dark. When hospital CEOs and health insurance executives get to make all the decisions, and then elect officials who back them up, the result is higher and higher and higher costs for insurance plans to cover individuals and families, less bargaining power, and healthcare workers pushed further to the brink.

For years, our union has fought hard at the bargaining table to secure high-quality, affordable healthcare. But we’re at a tipping point, and this is no longer a challenge that can be solved through bargaining alone. This is a crisis — and CWA is not standing by. We’re fighting at the bargaining table and in the halls of Trenton, Albany, Hartford, Boston, and Washington, D.C!

We need to fix this broken system. We need accountability from the corporate and legislative leaders who have the power to change it. And we will keep fighting until every member of our union has access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.

--Billy Gallagher, Assistant to the Vice President, CWA District 1