Tom Palladino

Tom Palladino has been a medical laboratory technologist at Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. for 27 years. When he learned in November that New York State’s Berger Commission slated his hospital for closure, Palladino says he was he was concerned for his fellow workers as well as for the entire community surrounding Victory Memorial.

“We have a large geriatric community. There are a lot of people who use our wound care and diabetic centers,” says Palladino. “I feel like this elderly population could get lost. It’s a sad thing.”

Palladino, an 1199SEIU Delegate, is connected to Victory by more than just his paycheck. “I met my wife there. My children were born there. I went to college with most of my co-workers,” he says. “It’s like a family breaking up.”

Palladino been doing his best to keep members informed during this transitional time, he says. “I don’t want people to blame the Union for what’s happening,” he says. “[Victory Memorial] didn’t get $38 million in debt overnight or just because of the Berger Commission. The Union has the right idea – helping people find new jobs through the Job Security Fund and re-opening the contract. I’m really hoping that goes through.”

Palladino says continuing to shut hospitals and slash healthcare budgets is not the way to fix the broken the healthcare system.           

“They are going to have to find a real solution or things are only going to get worse,” says Palladino. “We have to do our jobs and render service to our patients, but the government doesn’t believe we deserve to get paid. The only people who are making money are the insurance companies.”