|
|
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, September-October 2010
Fighting 'Millionaires Against Health Care'
San Francisco--In the late afternoon of Aug. 11, nearly 300 city employees here and their supporters rallied outside the Vallejo Street mansion of billionaire Wall Street speculator Michael Moritz to protest a fundraising party by wealthy patrons dubbed "Millionaires Against Health Care" by the workers. Moritz is the moneybag behind Proposition B, also called the Adachi Charter Amendment, which will greatly increase monthly healthcare premiums for city workers. Public Defender Jeff Adachi is running for Mayor, and his sponsorship of Prop. B is his price for the financial backing of Moritz and other super-rich.
If passed, Prop. B will cost each city employee thousands more, after taxes, in insurance premiums. The increse will be the same dollar amount no matter what their wages. For Adachi, who makes more than $200,000 per year, it is nothing, but for others it will be as much as 15% of their paychecks. It will more than double the premiums for those with two dependents, some will pay triple, and it will put healthcare out of reach of the lowest-paid workers and their children.
Already city workers are under hardship from a 4.5% wage cut, which the city asked for to "balance the budget." That went into effect just a few weeks before Prop. B qualified for the ballot. There are also legal problems, and Prop. B is being challenged in court by workers and their unions. A decision is expected during the last week of August.
One city worker, a secretary and single mother, said, "Wall Street speculators like Michael Moritz crashed our economy, stole billions from our pension funds, and then took a taxpayer bailout. Now they want to take away my kid's healthcare too. Where will these people stop?" Another worker said, "I do my best to serve seniors and disabled people, and these cutbacks don't just hurt us, they hurt our ability to do our jobs and to provide good service to people. First these millionaires make sure that the government is not funded, they 'starve the beast,' and then they turn around and blame the government for not getting things done. It's a deliberate policy to undermine the public good which we have to expose and stop." One thing is sure: city employees themselves will not stop until Prop. B is soundly defeated. There's change in the air in San Francisco!
--D. Chêneville
|
Subscription for one year
$5
|
