6 CSWA members were among the 14 injured workers who led a daring 7-day, around the clock hunger strike in front of NYS Governor Pataki's office to protest his attacks on our health.


14 fourteen workers who rose from extreme hardship to complete a daring seven-day, around-the-clock hunger strike.

With their health already frail from years of injury, the hunger strikers were uncertain that they could last seven days sleeping in the cold rain without eating, but after suffering years of humiliation and poverty caused by Governor Pataki’s brutal administration, these injured workers were determined. On the seventh day, nine remaining hunger strikers stood together to salute their five colleagues that were hospitalized or ended the hunger strike for medical or family emergencies. Their energy and resilience amazed all who came to provide overnight security, bring water, attend rallies and candlelight vigils, and sing songs of protest.

The hunger strike openly challenged Governor Pataki's insidious policies that punish injured workers by forcing them to wait as long as 11 years, as in the case of one hunger striker, for benefits and medical treatment while workers' compensation insurance profits climb to their highest levels. It demanded answers for low-income people facing escalating health problems resulting from the September 11th catastrophe who are being forced to choose between paying for treatment and medicine or paying for food and rent.

In this climate of uncertainty - when many workers are forced to endure longer hours on the job, increased health risks, wage and benefits cuts, and mass unemployment - the hunger strike inspired thousands, from immigrant workers to midtown office workers, to fight vigorously for their rights, health and lives. The strike reached into communities of faith, activating religious institutions and churches, and it sensitized elected officials on the local, state and federal levels. Despite the blackout among some mainstream media, the message of the hunger strike prevailed. It spread to many diverse communities through television and ethnic media, which covered the strike several times during that week. New York Newsday’s coverage also reached a large group of readers across the New York State.

And for that entire week, Pataki did not dare to show his face. Instead, just days after the strike ended, Governor Pataki - in his typically under-handed manner - attempted to discredit injured workers by using the media to focus attention on the arrests of a few injured workers for workers’ compensation "fraud." This only fueled people’s anger even more and let the public witness Pataki’s contempt for the poor and disabled, especially immigrants and people of color.

"Governor Pataki thinks that insurance company money will propel him to the White House. But we injured workers drew a line on the street of New York City outside his office to fight to defend our health and our lives. Our challenge now is to work together to organize our communities, build new alliances and strengthen old ones, so that a person with Pataki’s disdain for the poor can not have a political future." -- Maria Reyes, hunger striker. The seventh day of the hunger strike was not an ending but rather the beginning of a massive community education and treach effort. We urge you to join us as we launch this effort across the country and throughout New York State, to every city and neighborhood so that all of us and our families have a fighting chance at a healthy life.
Chinese Staff & Workers Association (CSWA)
Phone: (212) 334-2333
Email: cswa@cswa.org