Monday, November 27, 2006
The Hero of Houston's Janitor Negotiations
Mother Jones: Why Ercilia Sandoval Took Her Wig Off.
A video of Ercilia Sandoval is here.
She felt sick for nearly a year before she was able to save the $200 for a good exam. After that it took 60 days to be enrolled in Harris County's health program for the poor - which is not a very good program. Very long lines and a huge amount of time spent anytime you need to see anyone and you must go through all the paperwork again every six months and often several steps to see a doctor.
Now taxpayers of Harris County, including those online thugs who laughed at the poor ignorant Mexican's demanding better conditions, are paying for her chemotherapy. She might soon get on Social Security disabilty which takes longer and leaves federal tax payers with her health bills.
The new contract that she had a part in winning provides affordable health insurance for Houston's janitors among other normal benefits. The companies pay and the not the taxpayers. We can debate another time rather it would be better for jobs and better all around if companies didn't provide health insurance because that was a government function like in all other civilized countries. For now, Ercilia Sandoval won and she is getting treatment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Wait a minute. I thought Bill White was the hero.
Very funny. Although he may have played a role, not sure if that was a PR flack trying to get him credit or if he decided Houston was getting a public black eye. I think he wants to run for Guv or Senator when the D's are a bit more competitive.
I want to forward this to all the idiots in my office who had smartass remarks to make when the striking janitors came through our lobby a few weeks back(followed by the SWAT team.) But none of them would even bother to read it, let alone understand it.
Post a Comment