Listen: The Sleeping Giant Stirs…Plus, NYC Docs Eye Strike

Low-wage and low-wealth voters, some seen here rallying in D.C., could determine who wins the White House in November.

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By Bob Hennelly

This past weekend, thousands of union members, low wage workers and social justice activists turned out in support of the Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers Assembly in Washington D.C., convened by Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.

Attendees committed to helping to engage millions of low-wage and low-wealth Americans who make up a third of the electorate nationally—and in key battleground states like Florida—make up more than 40 percent of the electorate. In 2016, in the key swing states the margin of victory in the Presidential race was just 178,000 votes—but six million low-wage and low-wealth voters stayed home.

When a Columbia University research team surveyed those voters they said they didn’t vote because they didn’t hear any discussion of the issues relevant to their lives. Rev. Dr. Barber has a lot to say about this, and you’ll hear all about it on this week’s episode of the Moral Monday Labor Radio Hour With Rev. Dr. William Barber & Bob Hennelly.

In the second half of the show, we check in with Dr. Frances Quee and Dr. Damien Archbold of Doctor’s Council  SEIU,  representing thousands of physicians working at New York City’s Health + Hospitals Corporation. The municipal network of 11 acute care hospitals and 30 Gotham health centers is the largest in the nation and provides healthcare to all no matter their immigration or economic status—in essence, a form of municipal universal healthcare. 

But now, the Doctors Council warns the inability to retain and attract physicians is putting the quality of the healthcare at risk. Thanks to a lapsed contract, going back to last year, a staffing and recruiting crisis is coinciding with a 20-percent spike in emergency room visits and admissions.

A strike by at least 2,000 of the physicians who care for H+H patients are not covered by the New York State Taylor Law is possible because they are actually affiliated with entities including Mount Sinai and Physician Affiliate Group of New York.

According to Dr. Archbold, the failure by the municipal hospital system to address the staffing crisis is making the existing racial disparities in healthcare even more pronounced. In the borough of Queens, site of  H+HC’s  Elmhurst Hospital, that was so hard hit during COVID, the ratio of residents to a hospital bed is 1.5  beds per thousand. ”In Manhattan that ratio is a  6.4 beds per 1,000,” Dr. Archbold said.

Listen to the entire show below: