Members of various health care unions and community health care activists took to the streets of Manhattan’s Upper East Side on March 8^th to commemorate International Women’s Day, and call-out the influence of billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch in funding campaigns to restrict health care choices for women.  The two brothers are Midwest industrialists and investors who are well-known for financially supporting conservative political causes and candidates, including efforts by states to curtail women’s access to comprehensive reproductive health care and collective bargaining rights.

The event was organized by the New York State Nurses Association, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, and local chapters of the NAACP.  Other sponsoring groups included ACT UP/NY, Doctors for the 99%, Healthcare for the 99%, Healthcare Now NYC, Metro NY Health Care for All Campaign, the NY Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, and others.

The day began with a “pancake-breakfast-in-the-streets” outside New York Hospital.  David Koch recently gave them a $100M donation to fund construction of a new building there to be named after him.  From there, the group marched to a nearby Chase bank branch for a rally decrying the casino-like gambling of Wall St. speculators and their investor clientele (like the Koch brothers) that brought about the Great Recession which is still an ongoing reality for millions of struggling New Yorkers.  They were joined there by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.  After the rally, the group marched over to the Park Ave. location where David Koch has an apartment that he uses when in New York.