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Public
Employee Press Dental
staff warn public on closings
By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
Chanting No dental,
No teeth! and No justice, No peace! dozens of union activists
protested Feb. 26 against the mayors plan to shutter 43 dental clinics as
early as May 1.
Demonstrators from DC 37 locals 768 and 1549, the Doctors
Council, UFT and SEIU 1199 leafleted outside the Dept. of Health in lower Manhattan
to alert morning commuters to the threat to the school and community clinics.
Through
good and bad economic times, mayors have kept the free clinics open for over 104
years, said Fitz Reid, president of Local 768, which represents registered
Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants. But even when the city had a billion-dollar
surplus, Mayor Bloomberg and Health Commissioner Frieden pushed to suspend the
program.
While the city has spent millions on advertising campaigns
urging New Yorkers to stop smoking and cut trans fats, the Health Dept. is virtually
silent on its free dental care for the citys poorest children.
Commissioner
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden favors closing the school dental clinics for good to save
the city $3 million in fiscal year 2010, said Local 768 Chapter Chair Dale Brooks.
And PEP has learned that he is disposing of the dental equipment like a foreclosed
property to any taker for a nominal administrative fee.
Mayor to end free dental
care Unions are uniting to protect services that are essential
to young New Yorkers in underserved communities, Reid said. Our members
provide 50,000 free visits a year to 17,000 poor and immigrant youth who will
have not any dental care at all if were gone. Since most of the clinics
are in public schools, students get free dental treatment without missing classes.
The
layoff list includes eight Hygienists, 36 Assistants and a dozen administrative
staff, whose jobs will end in June, and 32 Dentists, whose jobs will end in May,
Reid said. The mayor wants to balance the budget on the backs of workers
and the poor.
Some kids we see have never been to a dentist,
said Local 768s Gail Fishbein, who works in Brooklyn and Staten Island clinics.
We are their only resource for free dental care.
Teeth
require constant maintenance, said Hygienist Gail Kashdan, who works at
the Corona clinic and three school facilities in Queens.
DC 37 is fighting
for budget restorations for the clinics, and union leaders are hopeful that outreach
and coordination with City Council members, parents and community groups will
turn things around. This demonstration is part of the fight for a fairer
budget that could keep the clinics open, Reid said. We have a moral
obligation to protect our citys children. | |