Vol. 76/No. 48      December 31, 2012

High school student David Bañuelos renewed his subscription when campaigners came to his house. “I’ve been working with my father landscaping since I was five years old,” Bañuelos said. “Now we have to work more. We never used to work on Sunday.”

“Many workers agree that the ruling class and their two parties have no solution for their crisis,” García said. “Workers need to come together and fight for a massive government-funded program to provide jobs for those without, to build things workers need, from hospitals to schools to infrastructure.”

“We need that,” Bañuelos said. “My mother works for the government. She’s responsible for more children today and makes less money.”

“A jobs program to put millions to work at union scale is something the working class will have to fight for,” García said. “All of our gains have been wrested through mass struggle.”

Sandler talked with Jessica Diaz on her way home from shopping with her young son. She works part time as an aide in a nursing home after being laid off from a job with the Los Angeles County library system following city government budget cuts.

Diaz said she is supposed to get four days of work followed by two days off, but her employer often changes or cancels a workday with little notice. “It’s like being fishing bait,” she said. “If they don’t need you, they just throw us back in the water.”

Sandler pointed to the Militant’s explanation of why millions are being forced into part-time jobs as the bosses squeeze more work from fewer workers, and the real scope of unemployment, which is masked by official jobless figures. Diaz signed up for an introductory subscription.

Campaigners also found interest in discussing the deepening crisis in workers’ health care. On Dec. 13 a federal appeals court here ruled that the California government can cut Medi-Cal, the state program that distributes Medicaid benefits.

Initial proposals for the cuts include limiting to seven the number of annual doctor visits. Payments to doctors and pharmacies that provide medical care and prescription drugs will be slashed by 10 percent. Many doctors say they will refuse to see Medi-Cal patients at the reduced rate.

“I told those I met door to door that these attacks being pushed by the governor and the legislature in Sacramento highlight the necessity of working people mobilizing independently of the two capitalist parties,” Sandler said.

“This is a compelling example why workers must chart a revolutionary course to take power out of the hands of the capitalists, opening the door to organizing a socialized medical system that provides universal cradle-to-grave health care for all.”

Barbara Bowman contributed to this article.  
 
 
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