Right now, tens of thousands of everyday Americans are in Washington fighting for real health care reform that works for working families. You can join them by sending a message to your representatives in Congress right now.

We simply cannot allow the insurance industry to hijack heath care reform again by killing the public plan option — not this time. There’s just too much on the line. We need real health care reform — including a public plan option.

Your message to Congress can help break through the lies and misinformation that the insurance industry is spreading to make sure that any reform protects only their profits, and not the middle class.

Here are just some of the stories AFSCME members will be delivering to Congress today:

“Help! I’m a healthcare provider in California. As a state worker, I just received a 9+% pay cut and may receive another 5%! I can’t continue with a 14+% cut. Health Care must reform or we will lose many workers, such as myself, further depleting an already failing system.”

“My health care need is that I have cancer and I need to continue to work no matter how sick I am, because I need the health insurance.”

“I have medical insurance, but due to a surgical complication, I was off work for a year. We could not keep up with the medical costs and filed Chapter 13.”

It shouldn’t be this way. We cannot let Congress back down from real reform, including a public plan option.

Be part of today’s rally in DC by sending a message to Congress for quality, affordable health care for all. Tell Washington we can’t wait!

AFSCME Council 81 members brought their message to the Legislative Hall in Dover. (Photo by Edward Savaria)

Hundreds of AFSCME Council 81 members rallied at the Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware to make sure legislators heard their message: “NO PAY CUT!”

To meet the state’s $800 million budget deficit, Gov. Jack Markell (D) has proposed slashing state employee salaries by 8 percent. Meanwhile, attrition, hiring freezes and funding cutbacks are already taking their toll on public services.

As Council 81 Exec. Dir. Mike Begatto said:

“An 8 percent pay cut for public employees would be an economic disaster for Delaware. It would take 91 million dollars out of Delaware’s economy. That will deepen our recession. It would hurt small businesses and it would be bad for every Delaware taxpayer.”

The rally featured a large “pledge card” for legislators to sign and express their support for no pay cuts and finding more responsible sources of revenue. See a video of the commitment rally here.

“I’m a single parent and if my pay is cut 8 percent, I won’t be able to provide for my family,” says AFSCME member Anthony Episcopo, a social worker who processes requests for food stamps and Medicaid. “There are more responsible ways to balance the state’s budget than on the backs of Delaware’s teachers, nurses and law enforcement officers.”

AFSCME members have proposed a number of alternatives to address Delaware’s budget constraints, including increasing the annual licensing fee from $250.00 to $350.00 a year for 580,000 Limited Liability Corporations chartered in the state and tapping into the state’s so-called “rainy day fund” to prevent more cutbacks.

Now it’s time for legislators to listen and do the right thing.

Contrary to the “wisdom” of certain legislators, taxing health care benefits is a counterproductive initiative that might just kill health care reform.

Over the last decade, health care premiums have risen 10 times faster than income. Keeping up with those expenses is already costing Americans an arm and a leg. Why would you want to make them even less affordable?

Nearly 160 million Americans get coverage through an employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s why they’re called benefits and that’s why taxing them will only place an additional burden on working families.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) recently spoke about the folly of such an initiative, pointing out how “taxing benefits at a time where people are already overwhelmed is, I think, a very bad idea.”

Others have floated a proposal to tax benefits above a certain level, affecting the so-called “gold-plated” health insurance plans. The problem is that many of these plans are expensive only because of regional cost differences and the composition of an employer’s risk pool. In other words, such a measure would disproportionally impact those who already can barely afford their plans as well as workers in high-cost areas.

There are far more equitable and fair alternatives to help provide quality, affordable health care for all. President Obama has already outlined savings for nearly $300 billion as well as proposed limiting itemized deductions for the country’s 3 million highest earners, measures that would help offset the costs of health care reform.

This is why he campaigned against taxing health care benefits. This is why health care benefits should be off limits.

This post on the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference being held this week in Washington, D.C., comes from James Parks at the AFL-CIO Now blog:

This is the year for passing real health care reform and to begin rebuilding the nation’s middle class by passing laws that give workers a free choice to join a union. And union retirees, one of the most active political groups in the country, will play a big role in bringing about change, top government leaders said.

Speaking in the opening session of the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference on Monday were U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee.

Both Sebelius and McEntee told the delegates that any health care reform must include an option for a public plan and must not tax the health benefits that workers and retirees receive through their employers.

Pointing out that President Obama received a higher percentage of votes from union retirees than any other group of voters, McEntee, who heads the AFL-CIO Political Committee, said health care reform is just one of the ways that “we’re taking back our nation for working families and retirees.”

“They [Republicans] are trying to take away our victories. George Bush stole part of the American Dream. He decimated the middle class, created the biggest gap in wealth in decades and left us with two wars.”

McEntee urged the seniors who will lobby lawmakers Wednesday to send a message to Capitol Hill.

“This is our best chance [to take back America]. We have to take it. We know what we’re up against. Go to Capitol Hill and tell them we’re kicking ass and taking names.”

Read more at the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

This entry is reposted from the Health Care for America NOW! blog.

By Jason Rosenbaum
Health Care for America NOW! blog

We’re going to see a lot of these kinds of “compromises” from now until we pass a health reform bill through Congress. First, we had the “trigger” proposal, designed to effectively kill a public health insurance option. Now, we have the “co-op” proposal.

It’s not particularly useful to keep responding individually to these ideas – we’d be playing whack-a-mole for months. Instead, let’s lay out some principles for a strong public health insurance option. If any proposal meets these principles, no matter what you call it, it is worthy of support.

1. National and available everywhere: A strong public health insurance option will be a national public health insurance program, available in all areas of the country. The insurance industry is made of of conglomerates that have national reach. In order to have the clout to compete with the insurance industry and keep them honest, the public health insurance option must be national as well.
2. Government appointed and accountable: The entire problem with private health insurance is that they aren’t accountable to you or me. A public health insurance option must have a different incentive. A public health insurance option doesn’t have to be a government entity necessarily, but its decision makers must be appointed by government and must be accountable to government.
3. Bargaining clout: The whole point of health reform is to lower health care costs. Clearly, the insurance industry has failed to lower costs when left to their own devices. As the President says, we need a strong public health insurance option to lower rates, change the incentives in our health care system, and keep the industry honest.
4. Ready on day one: The private health insurance industry has utterly failed to control health care costs or provide their customers the quality they’ve paid through the nose for. With one person going bankrupt every 30 seconds due to health care costs, we cannot afford to wait any longer for a real fix. We need the public health insurance option to start lowering prices now. That means no trigger.

Judging from the reports I’ve seen on Senator Conrad’s proposal, a co-op as currently envisioned does not meet these principles. Here is why, in Senator Conrad’s words:

And for those against a public option because they fear government control, the co-op structure has some appeal because its not government control. It’s membership control, and membership ownership.

…

What you probably need is a national entity with state affiliates, and the further flexibility so those states can have regional pools. So in our part of the country, you might have North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming go together. Out east you might have Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire together. We’re consulting with experts tomorrow about that.

As envisioned, the co-op proposal would create a bunch of member operated plans around the country, none of which would have the clout to compete with private insurance or really lower prices with providers and drug companies.

Also, another note of caution: A co-op is a legal structure. In a co-op, members of the co-op are legally liable for the co-op. That means that if a co-op was, say, sued for doing something wrong, its members might be liable for the legal bills and damages.

If Senator Conrad or anyone else in Congress can come up with a proposal that meets the above principles, we’d be happy to support it, whatever it’s called. As the proposal stands now, Conrad’s co-ops will not bring costs down, save our economy, or allow us to choose a viable public option if we don’t want to be at the mercy of private insurance. These co-ops will not solve the health care crisis, and so we oppose them.

If you agree, you can click here to call your Senators and tell them why a co-op is not the change you voted for.

This post about worksite visits by AFSCME Local 1184 in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and health care reform is courtesy of the AFL-CIO Employee Free Choice Act blog.

AFSCME Local 1184 collected over 500 letters and signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act during worksite visits earlier this month.

AFSCME Local 1184, which represents 3,800 Miami Dade County school employees, visited the worksites of school bus drivers over a four-day span earlier this month with the South Florida AFL-CIO, UA organizers Rick Lindstrom and Javier Garcia and AFSCME representative Paris Walker collecting hundreds of signatures and letters in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and President Obama’s healthcare plan.

“Anytime you can educate the members on an issue, it is significant. People become empowered to get involved once they realize it will have an impact on their lives,” said Sherman Henry, President of Local 1184.

Local 1184 Vice President Vicki Hall said that visiting worksites is an effective way to reach out to membership. “Some of our members aren’t up to speed on the Employee Free Choice Act and other issues because they are so busy with work and their families. Talking to people on the job is a great way to get in touch with everyone and provide information.”

For their part, Rick Lindstrom and Javier Garcia are two of eleven UA organizers who have been driving the internal Employee Free Choice Act campaign across the state. Lindstrom and Garcia have been visiting the top 20 locals in the Miami area and offering their support to do activities like the AFSCME Local 1184 worksite visits.

“This is the biggest piece of legislation for the labor movement since 1935. We just had an employer who skipped town after his workers voted to unionize. People are starving out there, working without pensions and healthcare and they are sick of it,” said Lindstrom.

This team was able to collect over 500 letters and signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act at the AFSCME Local 1184 worksites. To date, unions of the South Florida AFL-CIO have collected tens of thousands of letters and made thousands of phone calls about the bill to federal legislators. Local 1184 President Henry plans to keep his members active on political issues and the local will be doing a voter registration drive in the near future.

This entry is adapted from remarks AFSCME President Gerald McEntee delivered at the AFSCME LGBT Pride kick-off event at the union’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and is cross-posted from Huffington Post and Oxdown Gazette.

Earlier this month, we saw new evidence that our country has entered a real era of change when President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on all Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. “As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected,” the President’s proclamation states. “If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit.”

This is a special year in many ways. This month, we mark the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, when the struggle for full citizenship for LGBT Americans began in earnest. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is proud of the role we have played to advance the cause of equal rights for LGBT Americans throughout the years. We are proud of the work of our members and our staff. We are going to continue to fight until we end every policy that treats any group of Americans as second class citizens. Discrimination is wrong. It hurts us all. It must stop.

Decades ago, AFSCME councils and locals across the country took the lead in negotiating employment non-discrimination policies. They used union power to create collective bargaining agreements to protect LGBT public employees. Those victories helped pave the way for non-discrimination policies in the private sector.

But workplace discrimination still goes on. In fact, it remains legal in 30 states to discriminate based on sexual orientation, and in 38 states to do so based on gender identity or expression. As a result, LGBT people face serious discrimination in employment. Too many people are being fired… or being denied a promotion… or experiencing harassment on the job. That is wrong and it must stop. That’s why we’re fighting to pass the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with President Obama and our allies in the Congress, we’re going to get this done.

As we celebrate LGBT Pride, it’s also appropriate to remember that AFSCME has been fighting alongside the LGBT community on a host of other important issues. We’re working to pass a federal hate crimes law so that local law enforcement will get the resources they need to keep LGBT families safe and secure wherever they choose to live. We’re fighting to change the tax laws so that domestic partners benefits will not be taxed. We’re fighting to fund programs to protect LGBT youth from harassment. And we’re working to secure a sound retirement for LGBT seniors by ending discrimination in Social Security and tax laws.

We stood with the LGBT community during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis. We fought to end discrimination against People With AIDS. We fought to expand research and treatment programs.

Later this month, the AFSCME Pride Committee at our headquarters in Washington, DC – composed of LGBT and straight employees – will host a guest lecture named in honor of our departed brother, Van Sheets. Van spent 17 years working for AFSCME. Van was taken from us much too early. He loved this union with his heart and soul. We loved and cherished Van in return. Van was the driving force behind the creation of Pride at Work, which does so much to give the LGBT community a voice in the labor movement. I know Van would be very proud of the work the Pride Committee is doing and the event that has been scheduled to honor his memory.

Finally, let’s not forget that the values we share require us to continue to push forward. That’s always been the case in the on-going battle for freedom, fairness and equality. Just look at the fight for marriage equality. AFSCME members – straight and gay – have been fighting on the front lines. Yes, we were disappointed with the results in California last November. But today, let’s celebrate the great progress we’ve seen this year. Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have now joined Massachusetts in providing marriage equality for all of their citizens. That’s real progress.

So there is much to celebrate this month. But there is more work to be done. We’re going to do that work, year in and year out, until equal rights exist for the LGBT community and for all Americans. All of us at AFSCME, working together, are going to do our part. We’re going to make equality happen.

It is the right thing to do… for our union… for our families… for our country.

Happy LGBT Pride Month.

Last week, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee and several other union presidents met with Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT). The Finance Committee is one of the two Senate committees that are writing this year’s health care reform legislation. President McEntee stressed to Sen. Baucus AFSCME’s strong opposition to capping the current tax exclusion for employees’ health care benefits, and our union’s commitment to choice in a reformed system, including a public health insurance plan option.

On Saturday, President Barack Obama used his weekly address to call for real health care reform, saying that fixing what is wrong with our current system is “a necessity we cannot postpone any longer.” In addition, the President sent a letter on June 2 to Senators Baucus and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) reaffirming the need to move forward on reform which builds on employer-based coverage and includes a choice of options, including a public health insurance plan.

From the letter:

“I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.”

The President called for Congress to complete its work on health care reform so that it could be signed into law by October. Obama also emphasized the need to make health care coverage affordable and reiterated his support for proposals requiring employers to share in the costs of health care coverage.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers also issued a pivotal report, “The Economic Case for Health Care Reform,” explaining why health reform is vital for the future of the American economy. The detailed and in-depth report noted that without health care reform, American workers and families will continue to experience eroding health care benefits and stagnating wages caused by the pressure of escalating health insurance premiums.

In addition, increases in Medicare and Medicaid spending will lead to further strain on federal and state budgets. With reform that makes health care more affordable and expands coverage, a typical family of four would see their income increase by approximately $2,600 in 2020 (in 2009 dollars) and by nearly $10,000 in 2030, compared to their income without reform.

AFSCME is leading the charge for real health care reform that provides quality, affordable health care for all. Learn more at www.makeamericahappen.com.

Saul Schniderman, President of AFSCME Local 2910, speaks with Rep. Carolyn Maloney at a press conference in support of H.R. 626.

The House passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 626) by a vote of 258 to 154 on June 4. Saul Schniderman, President of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910, joined the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), for a press conference and spoke in support of the bill.

A potentially harmful amendment submitted by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was also defeated. The amendment would have required that parental leave be made available only to those who have exhausted their sick and vacation leave, and that the paid leave is treated as an advance on additional sick/vacation leave rather than additional days of paid leave. This would have eliminated the additional benefit of paid parental leave proposed by the bill.

The Senate version of the legislation, S.354, was reintroduced in the Senate on January 30 by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA).

AFSCME’s International Executive Board has unanimously passed a resolution declaring support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court. The resolution praises Sotomayor’s outstanding academic credentials and distinguished record of service, and points out the historic nature of her selection as the first Hispanic and woman of color to be nominated to serve on the court.

President Gerald W. McEntee says Sotomayor is “exactly the kind of experienced, capable and fair jurist” our nation needs on the high court:

“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has worked to preserve the rights of workers to receive fair pay, health benefits, and to be free of workplace discrimination. The Senate should promptly confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.”

Read the full release.