Central Labor Councils Making April Health Care Month

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/07/central-labor-councils-making-april-health-care-month/

By Mike Hall, Apr 7, 2008

The Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL) had a standing-room only crowd for its April meeting last week, as local union leaders took a detailed look at the AFL-CIO/Working America 2008 Health Care for America Survey and discussed how to get its message out to lawmakers in the upcoming elections.


Chicago Labor of Federation Secretary-Treasurer Jorge Ramirez (at the podium) and CFL President Dennis Gannon talk to local union leaders about health care and Labor 2008.


That April 1 meeting was one of nearly 50 central labor council meetings around the country last week in which grassroots union leaders got a look behind the numbers from the survey in which nearly 27,000 took part. They also heard some of the personal stories from the 7,500 respondents who took the time to recount their personal experiences with the nation’s broken health care system. Throughout April, more than 300 central labor councils are dedicating their monthly meetings to helping local unions mobilize their members around health care reform as part of Labor 2008’s drive to Turn Around America.


The local union leaders at these special health care meetings—where the labor councils report their attendance has been about double the usual turnout—are being asked to sign up for Labor 2008.


The survey results reinforced what local union activists have learned during their difficult negotiations over health care with employers and from the experiences of their own members—health care will be a major issue in the 2008 presidential and congressional campaigns. Some 79 percent of respondents said health care will be a key issue when they cast their ballots, and 97 percent say they do plan to vote this fall.


Discussions around the survey results quickly turned to action. In Illinois, the Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly plans to distribute thousands of fact cards that local unions will hand out in break rooms and on job sites and workplaces outlining where the presidential candidates stand on health care reform.


The cards will show how Sen. John McCain’s plan is a rehash of President Bush’s failed proposal. It won’t cut costs, won’t cover more people and would raise taxes on employers and employees alike, pushing workers out of job-based plans and leaving them at the mercy of the private insurance market.


FULL story at link.

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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.