The Occupy movement has come to Brookdale Hospital. 1199ers at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn held an Occupy Brookdale rally on November 22 demanding the ouster of the hospital’s administrator, Medisys, and the restoration of their 1199SEIU health benefits. They vowed to keep up the fight as long as it takes.

Brookdale members lost their coverage under the 1199SEIU National Benefit Fund last spring when Medisys fell behind on payments. Instead of negotiating, Medisys simply refused to honor its collective bargaining agreement with the Union and substituted a more expensive and inferior Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan which many workers said they couldn’t afford because of high co-payments and deductibles. Now Medisys has fallen behind on payments to Blue Cross. Members say the company is running the once-thriving institution intro the ground.

“We’re constantly under threat of having no health care,” says Angela Sanchez, an RN at the Shulman Institute, Brookdale’s nursing care facility. “They defaulted on their contract with 1199. If this happens we’d be healthcare workers with no health care. Since they switched to Blue Cross, it’s been horrendous. And now they’re in debt to Blue Cross to the tune of two or three million dollars. There is just no accountability for this administration.”

“They are getting paid. There should be money for the bills. This is just a systematic way of disempowering the workforce. It’s happening all over the country,” Sanchez continued. “We cannot let them get a foothold. They see us as an easy target because we’re an underserved community, but they’re wrong. We are a hard working, working class community.”

At the rally, a small but spirited group of members marched and chanted, carrying signs emblazoned with “Save The Middle Class” and “Healthcare Workers Are The 99%” and “Jobs Not Cuts.” Their enthusiasm wasn’t dampened by threatening grey skies or chilly November winds. 1199SEIU Pres. George Gresham was warmly welcomed to the mic and opened his remarks by wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

“We wish that the bosses at Brookdale really understood the real meaning of Thanksgiving – that we are all in this together,” said President Gresham.

He strongly reminded those gathered that there were too many 1199ers still inside Brookdale and that they needed to be outside on the picket line.

“I didn’t come here today to talk to you. I came here today to inspire you,” President Gresham said. “Don’t go back and start a fight with your co-workers. Go back and talk to them. Ask them: Do you believe that Flanz has to go? Do you believe that we have to get rid of Medisys? This is the Thanksgiving message I have for you. We can never give up. We must go back in and talk to our brothers and sisters and we must plan another demonstration.”

President Gresham was joined on the agenda by a number of elected officials, including New York City council members Charles Barron and Jumaane Williams. Baaron pledged his continued support and took to task fellow legislators who publicly stand with workers, but then vote against legislation that would benefit working people and families.

“Not only do we want our jobs, but we want to get rid of Medisys,” he said. “We want a regime change and we are going to make this the best hospital in New York City if it takes our last dying breath to do so.”

Williams told workers that now is the time for a movement to save their hospital. “We can do this. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and being out here day after day after day,” he said. “We are the 99% and we aren’t going away.”

Several Brookdale workers also came to the microphone with a message for management: leave our hospital.

“I have seen two layoffs that affected 200 people,” said social worker Arabella Bryant. “There are layoffs pending that will affect home care. I’ve seen greed and corruption cause our CEO to be arrested and 1199 members to lose our health care. This administration must go.”

Brookdale workers were joined on the picket line by 1199 brother and sisters from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Queens and Lutheran Hospital and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Brooklyn.