Yesterday, we fought a battle for the public health insurance option. Though we didn’t win it, we came away with a strong showing that put us in a better position for the coming war.

For AFSCME members in particular, President McEntee points out, “the bottom line for us is when there is little or no competition, our costs go up, and this is why we need a public plan option.”

In a long debate on the amendments to add a public health insurance option to the Baucus Bill in the Senate Finance Committee, Senators spoke out vigorously in favor of the idea. The intellectual and moral case for the public health insurance option was clear.

The Finance Committee then voted on two public health insurance option amendments offered by Senators Rockefeller and Schumer.

In the end, 10 out of 13 Democrats on the committee – John Rockefeller (WV), Jeff Bingaman (NM), John Kerry (MA), Ron Wyden (OR), Charles Schumer (NY), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Maria Cantwell (WA), Bill Nelson (FL), Robert Menendez (NJ), and Tom Carper (DE) – voted for a public health insurance option.

Three Democrats – Max Baucus (MT), Kent Conrad (ND), and Blanche Lincoln (AR) – sided with the Republicans to defeat these amendments. The final roll call was 10-13.

In the most conservative committee in the Senate, which is itself the most conservative house of Congress, a public health insurance option got the support of an overwhelming majority of the governing party. And there were some surprises – we picked up more votes than we had originally expected.

So what’s next?

A public health insurance option has been passed by four out of five committees in Congress dealing with health care, and received a huge amount of support in the Senate Finance Committee. The next time the public health insurance option will come up for consideration is when Majority Leader Harry Reid merges the Finance bill with the HELP bill.

Yesterday was the first step in building momentum for a public health insurance option in the Senate. Clearly, the idea has weight – even self-described moderates such as Bill Nelson and Tom Carper voted for it. As we move to the floor and into conference, with Schumer, Rockefeller, and other champions pledging support and whipping their colleagues, those numbers can and will continue to grow.

We remain confident a public option will be in the final bill that lands on President Obama’s desk. But it won’t happen without the continued actions and involvement of AFSCME’s membership, which has been unprecedented these past few months.

Richard Trumka was elected the new AFL-CIO President at the convention in Pittsburgh earlier this month along with Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker. The AFL-CIO is now led by a dynamic team ready to lead the union movement in the 21st century.

Watch this video to learn about President Trumka’s background, his values and beliefs, and vision for the future of the labor movement:

A year after receiving a tax-payer funded bailout, the financial industry hasn’t changed as much as we’d hoped. While Americans are still losing jobs, they are developing new and exotic ways to take risks with our money while paying their executives richly.

In this clip, Stephen Colbert looks into this issue and talks about how banks are creating a new profit center in death deals. Watch for a very funny and well-written look at these issues.

CEO pay reform remains a key element of the federal government’s financial reform agenda. The Federal Reserve recently announced that the agency will police banks’ pay policies to ensure they do not encourage excessive risk taking. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to give investors a say on pay and the Senate is considering such a move.

At the same time some companies have volunteered to give their owners a voice on compensation. Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Tech Data are among the 26 companies that have voluntarily agreed to give their shareholders a vote on pay. And nearly 300 financial firms that received TARP funds have held say on pay votes this year.

Richard Ferlauto, director of corporate governance and pension investment at AFSCME, appeared on CNBC’s “Street Signs” to discuss the need for long-term, performance-based and reasonable pay for CEOs:

Add your voice for pay reform by sending a message to your senators urging them to support a shareholder say on pay. Learn more about this and other issues by checking out the AFSCME-supported shareholder online resources at ShareOwners.org.

Health insurance companies and HMOs spent $585,725,712 over the past two and a half years to scuttle meaningful health care reform, according to the nonpartisan group Public Campaign Action Fund. Earlier this year The Washington Post reported that the health care industry as a whole is spending heavily this year to influence the health care reform debate – to the tune of $1.4 million a day.

“These highly profitable corporations are spending millions every month to protect their bottom line by fighting health care reform in Washington, D.C.,” said David Donnelly of Public Campaign Action Fund. “To put it starkly, they have invested heavily in insider lobbyists and politicians to maintain their bottom line, leaving Americans out in the cold and stuck with our broken health care system.”

There are 875 registered lobbyists representing the insurance interests in Washington, DC, and 920 registered lobbyists representing HMOs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Senate Finance Committee is currently considering a deeply flawed health care reform bill that, as former insurance company executive Wendell Potter said, is a “gift to the insurance industry.”

If there’s anyone who doesn’t need a gift right now, it’s the health insurance industry that denies care to millions of Americans while our premiums skyrocket and drag our economy down. Take action right now and tell the Finance Committee to fix this bill.

In a statement released yesterday, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said that this bill doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of America’s working families and doesn’t meet the standards set by President Obama last week in his joint address to Congress.

There is no employer mandate, no public option, no help for retirees. The bill weakens state insurance regulations and taxes health plans that provide benefits for many middle class families. This bill fails to provide good, affordable coverage and does not protect families from medical bankruptcy. It is unacceptable.

Weakening state insurance regulations? Taxing health plans that provide coverage for struggling middle class families? That really is unacceptable.

What happens in the coming weeks will affect every single American. If the insurance companies win, the rest of us – hardworking families who struggle to make ends meet – lose.

Please contact the Senate Finance Committee right now and tell them to fix the health care reform bill now. We can’t let anything short of real reform pass.

The New England Journal of Medicine just released a survey of more than 2,100 physicians that shows overwhelming support for including a public insurance option in health care reform. A public health insurance option would help lower costs, improve quality, cover more and stop insurance company abuses.

When polled, “nearly three-quarters of physicians supported some form of a public option, either alone or in combination with private insurance options,” says Dr. Salomeh Keyhani, an internist and researcher who conducted the survey with Dr. Alex Federman.

Unfortunately, the Senate Finance Committee is considering a bill that ignores these doctors’ advice. It does not come close to meeting the needs of America’s working families in part because it lacks a public option. Wendell Potter, a former CIGNA executive, calls the Finance Committee bill an “absolute gift” to the insurance industry. That’s unacceptable.

The bill being considered in the Finance Committee must be fixed. America can do better and Congress must do better. Reforming health care is too important to do half way.

The last day of the AFL-CIO Convention opened with a big bang as newly elected AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stood on stage with UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm to make the dramatic announcement that UNITE HERE is reaffiliating with the federation. The 250,000-member UNITE HERE was one of the unions that left the AFL-CIO in 2005 to form a new federation.

Trumka, who said he developed a special bond with Wilhelm around the struggle for Horse Shoe and Frontier Hotel workers in Las Vegas more than 15 years ago, hailed the reaffiliation, saying:

The solidarity of the American labor movement is about to grow.

It pained me personally when UNITE HERE left this federation four years ago—and I can’t think of a more uplifting way to begin this day than by welcoming UNITE HERE back to our union family as an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

Trumka noted the importance of unity within the labor movement as workers are hit hard by a bad economy, the lack of freedom to form unions and Republican’s continual attack on working people.

A united labor movement will serve the interests of working people during this time of incredible opportunity and progress.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council met earlier today and approved the reaffiliation and using its authority under the AFL-CIO Constitution, expanded membership on the Executive Council and Executive Committee and named Wilhelm to those seats.

UNITE HERE represents more than 250,000 workers in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, laundry and airport industries.

More from the AFL-CIO Now blog.

Following this afternoon’s election of the AFL-CIO’s new leadership team at the AFL-CIO 2009 Convention in Pittsburgh, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee released the following statement:

“We have a new leadership team that is committed to preserving the fundamental freedoms of America’s workers, including the right to form unions, the right to quality health care, the right to bargain collectively and the right to safe workplaces. They will organize and fight for a new generation of working Americans, building on the progress we have made in recent years.

“Since 1995, when he joined John Sweeney on the ticket committed to transforming the AFL-CIO, Rich Trumka has become a tireless advocate on issues of major importance to AFSCME members. Rich as been a leader on health care reform. He’s led the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act. And he’s worked with us to increase federal aid for the vital public services our members provide. Whenever AFSCME needed him, Rich was first in line to offer help.

“I’ve known Arlene Holt Baker for more than 30 years. She’s a member of the AFSCME family, and served as our area director in California. Her empathy for working people’s struggles, experiences, her tenacity and intellect, make Arlene an invaluable leader in revitalizing the labor movement.

“Liz Shuler is a remarkable new leader, who at the age of 39 will bring youthful dynamism and strong experience into her role as Secretary-Treasurer.

“Rich, Arlene and Liz know that the rank and file members are the heart and soul of our unions. Their voices keep us strong.

“AFSCME looks forward to working with Rich Trumka, Arlene Holt Baker and Liz Shuler to open the doors of opportunity to all working Americans in the years ahead.”

Newly-elected AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka shares a light moment with AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee during a meeting of the AFSCME caucus at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention. (Photo by Jason Cohn)

“…They call them insurance companies.”

— incoming AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, as quoted by the New York Times.