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September 2003, Vol 93, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1376
© 2003 American Public Health Association

LETTER

THE HEALTH OF WORKERS

Roger Toussaint, President

Transport Workers Union of Greater New York, AFL-CIO, Local 100

I was given a copy of the April, 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The cover photo, in addition to being an excellent piece of photography, also accurately depicts the feelings of our membership in regard to health benefits. Your decision to make workers’ health a focal point of the issue was very welcome to us.

This cover photo was taken on April 24, 2002, when over 10 000 of our 34 000 members gathered to tell our employer, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, that we want safer working conditions, good wages, and health benefits, as well as respect and dignity on the job.

This was the second rally, the first being in March of 2001 on the same subject. Another rally in 2002 of over 14 000 issued the same message.

We feel that this mobilization of the membership in our city streets served the purpose of reinforcing our membership’s appreciation, as well as that of the riding public, of the crucial importance of both workplace safety and health care security.

I am glad to report to your readers that we successfully convinced the MTA of our message—we negotiated a three year agreement that strengthened safety rules substantially and not only maintained our current level of benefits, but increased it in the areas of mental health and child care.

At the same time we were winning these basic health rights for our members, our union has been participating fully in the struggle for universal health care for everyone. It is our view that health care is a right, not a privilege.

Thank you for featuring our membership so that the readership of AJPH and the membership of the American Public Health Association is more informed of these issues.





This Article
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