Nursing home's greed will put it in the labor hall of shame (Sen. Obama specifically mentioned)

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/06/08/2008-06-08_nursing_homes_greed_will_put_it_in_the_l.html

Sunday, June 8th 2008, 4:00 AM

The hardhearted managers of Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation Care Center - a Bronx nursing home where 220 nurses' aides, cooks, porters and other workers have been on strike for over three months - are getting a well-earned lesson in what happens to companies that place profits above compassion.

As I noted in a recent column, workers at Kingsbridge Heights - members of Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union - are locked in an angry struggle against a company that calls itself "one of the elite Bronx nursing homes" and raked in an estimated $5.2 million in profits in 2006.

Those profits were built on illegal labor practices, says the union. The tense battle turned bitter last month, when a striking worker, Audrey Smith-Campbell, died of an asthma attack.

According to Smith-Campbell's family members, the fatal attack came because without company benefits, she couldn't afford the $400 a month it cost for medication to keep the asthma under control.

The death has drawn national attention: Sen. Barack Obama specifically mentioned Smith-Campbell during an address to thousands of union members at the SEIU's national conference in Puerto Rico on June 4.

"Audrey is no longer with us. But her spirit is," said Obama. "And it's driving me on this campaign. Because we cannot accept this kind of injustice in the United States of America."

FULL story at link.

and lets hope Audrey's death brings about some change in this country.