The upcoming monthly membership meeting has been moved back to May 15th and the next meeting of the discussion group has been moved to May 25th. Please check out the calender for more details

**5/9 FRI, 4:30 pm - Protest: "March to Save Our Healthcare."
Join the fight to prevent GHI-HIP from converting to a for-profit
company & jeopardizing the healthcare of 4 million policy
holders, including 500,000 NYC workers (93% of the workforce)
& retirees. Mainstream politicians & union leaders support the
change, hoping to benefit from the nearly $3 billion windfall
profits of such a sale. Help send a "no privatization" message
to the NYS Sup't of Insurance & GHI-HIP. Bring friends & signs.
At Office of the NYS Superintendent of Insurance, 25 Beaver St
(4/5 to Bowling Green, J/M/Z to Broad St, R/W to Whitehall St,
1 to Rector St, 2/3 to Wall St, A/C to B'way-Nassau).

Info: (718) 869-2279, noprivatization@yahoo.com (request flyer)&
http://www.consumersunion.org/conv/ &read more »

On May Day we will be marching in the "Break the Chains" feeder march which begins at 3pm in Roosevelt Park on Grand Street between Chrystie and Forsynth we will meet at the park at 2pm. This march will then meet up with the larger May 1 coalition march which will take place from Union Square and march down to Foley Sq. at 4:00pm.

At 7:00pm we will be having a May Day showing of the film The Wobblies at the A.J. Muste Institute, check our events page for more information on the movie.

JUSTICE FOR SEAN BELL
and all victims of police violence!

Killer cops found "not guilty"!
Come out and show your outrage.
Demand Justice and Civil Rights for all!

Rally and community speak-out
Today, April 25, 5:30pm
in front of Queen's DA office:
125-01 Queens Blvd
(bet. Hoover Ave & 82nd Ave)
E/F train to Union Turnpike

JAIL KILLER COPS!

Coalition against Privatization
Meeting
Friday April 25th 6:30pm
339 Lafayette Street Buzzer #7
(718) 869-2279 or noprivatization@yahoo.com

In December 2007 GHI & HIP filed an application with the NY State Superintendent of Insurance to “convert” itself into a for-profit company. Conversion is a different way to say privatization. If approved, this privatization would expose 4 million GHI/HIP policy holders to the hazards of for-profit healthcare (premiums have increased more than 80% in the last seven years). Included in this pool are more than 500,000 city workers (retirees included) who will face a mega-corporation that is able to raise premiums at will, restrict access to care, increase CEO salaries and favor the accumulation of profits over healthcare.

To date, mainstream politicians have provided little resistance. Democrats from New York City to Albany have lined up with Republicans. They hope to cash in on the billion-dollar liquidation of GHI & HIP assets as part of privatization. The leaders of the city’s trade unions have also spoken in favor of the privatization thereby placing a short-term payout ahead of the long-term interests of members.read more »

Upcoming Discussion Group Topics

Activist Training for Single-Payer Healthcare
Sunday May 4th 3:00pm – 339 Lafayette St. Buzzer #11 A. J. Muste Institute

For one day the SP Discussion group will be converted into an activist training session. After reading, conversation and presentations participants will be able to conduct effective activist work around issues related to the campaign for national healthcare in the United States.

Readings:
“Universal Access to Healthcare,” Harvard Law Review, vol. 108, no. 6, Apr. 1995.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democraticsocialistdiscussion/files/Healthcare/
Devi, Sridhar, “Inequality in the United States Healthcare System,” United Nations Human Development Report, 2005.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2005/papers/hdr2005_sridhar_devi_36.pdfread more »