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.

Hector Alikhan, Local 3325, and Diana MacQuarrie, Local 2719, were two of the 2008 Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship winners.

The deadline to apply for the Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship is fast approaching. Applications for the program, which aims to help more women and people of color become union leaders, must be received by May 30.

The scholarship provides annual awards of up to $3,000 to help future union leaders with the cost of continuing their education in order to pursue their union career goals and leadership skills.

Scholarships can be used for tuition, books and travel for leadership training at accredited labor schools, colleges, universities and community colleges. Many students have used the program to attend the National Labor College.

In addition, scholarship winners will be matched with current union leaders to participate in a special mentoring program.

By affording opportunities for women and people of color to continue their education, the scholarship program is helping build a skilled, diverse leadership for the union movement to continue to reach out and provide benefits to more workers.

So far, the Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship Program has awarded $74,000 to 28 winners. Last year’s winners included AFSCME members Hector Alikhan from Local 3325 and Diana MacQuarrie from Local 2719.

All applications must be postmarked by May 30, 2009. Scholarship winners will be contacted by July 7, 2009.

Vice President Joe Biden, addressing the 2009 AFSCME Legislative Conference on Tuesday, said the way to rebuild the middle class is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and level the playing field for unions.

As chair of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families, Biden is focused on raising the living standard for middle-class families and improving the lives of working Americans. The best way to do that, says the vice president, is to make sure workers have the freedom to join a union.

“You know, I think it should be pretty simple. If a union is what you want, then a union is what you should get. It’s simple.”

This animation from the American Worker Project, courtesy of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), shows how labor law gives workers a raw deal, taking you step-by-step through the current process for forming a union. It’s not pretty.

Watch it and weep. Better yet, watch it and tell your Senators and Congressmember to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

From Joe Sudbay at AmericaBlog:

Corporate leaders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are on a multi-million dollar mission to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act, even as many of them, like Bank of America, take federal bailout money. The Wall Street crowd, with their private jets and huge bonuses, almost destroyed the American economy…

But, if you want to meet real union workers, the people who make the economy function and the people Lewis and his fellow CEOS wants to screw, meet the men from Maersk Alabama over at the AFL-CIO NOW blog:

“We didn’t have to retake the ship because we never surrendered it. We’re American seaman. We’re union members. We stuck together and did our jobs,” said John Cronan, third engineer and son of a merchant sailor

The AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Department (MTD) salutes the courageous efforts of the all-union crew aboard the Maersk Alabama for maintaining control of their vessel, as well as the heroic efforts of the U.S. Navy in rescuing Capt. Richard Phillips from his Somali captors.

More at AFL-CIO Now Blog.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., where he traveled to support AFSCME sanitation workers fighting for fair wages and recognition of their union: AFSCME Local 1733.

Dr. King did not live to see the full realization of his dream. Nonetheless, the cause of equality and economic justice to which he dedicated his life remains as relevant today as it was four decades ago.

Our country has made definite progress toward ensuring the doors of the American Dream are open to all. As Pres. Barack Obama said in his inaugural speech, this is “why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

But the fact of the matter is this: when it comes to completely fulfilling Dr. King’s dream of an America with abundant opportunity and shared prosperity and when it comes to making sure the American Dream really is in reach for all, this nation still has a lot of work to do.

When 47 million Americans lacking health insurance and those who have it see their premiums skyrocket beyond their means, it’s clear that we need quality, affordable health care for all.

When national unemployment stands at 8.5 percent, we need to stop layoffs and ease the burden on state and local governments so they can keep providing vital public services in times of need.

When the middle class continues to get squeezed out of existence, and more than half of U.S. workers – 60 million – say they would join a union if they could, we must give them this possibility. We need the Employee Free Choice Act to restore the freedom to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions without harassment from employers.

In other words, we must create an America that lives up to its ideals – the ideals expressed in Dr. King’s dream.

Politico recently reported that a new poll by the independent Gallup organization shows a majority of Americans favor a new law to make it easier for workers to form unions and to bargain for better lives for their families.  That public support may be pivotal to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would protect workers from coercion, harassment and illegal firing when they try to form unions.  It would also give workers the choice on how to form a union instead of leaving that choice to their employers.

Workers also got strong backing from President Obama, a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, who said “We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests because we cannot have a strong middle-class without a strong labor movement,” earlier this month.

The poll of 1,024 adults across the country shows 53 percent of respondents support the Employee Free Choice Act, and illustrates positive public attitudes toward unions.  The independent survey echoes the fundamental public support for labor found in previous surveys.

In 1981, when AFSCME librarians in San Jose, California, saw glaring inequities in jobs dominated by women and the ones dominated by men, they went on strike for pay equity, marking the first time workers went to the picket line over this issue.
(AFSCME archive photo)

AFSCME is celebrating Women’s History Month by remembering the women before us who made it happen and looking to the future of our labor movement.

Early union women took on issues like child labor, safe working conditions and better pay. In 1881, washerwomen in Atlanta went on strike for better wages and gained the support of the entire city to establish black workers as instrumental to the New South’s economy.

One hundred years later in 1981, AFSCME San Jose Local 101 went on strike, marking the first time women workers went to the picket lines for equal pay.

Women continue to be a force in unions — it is predicted that by 2020 women will be a majority of the unionized workforce.

Earlier this month, AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy joined a celebration of International Women’s Day at the United Nations — archived video of his speech at the event is available on the UN site. President Obama’s proclamation in honor of Women’s History Month is available on the White House website.

This Sunday’s PARADE Magazine promotes an online poll asking: “Does America still need labor unions?”

I think you’d agree that it’s a pretty absurd question from PARADE. With the gap between the rich and the poor wider than it’s been since 1928, and with working families bearing the brunt of the economic downturn, it’s clear we need unions more than ever.

That’s why we’re fighting so hard for the Employee Free Choice Act. Workers deserve to be able to negotiate for better wages and benefits, but the deck is stacked against them.

Chances are good you saw the poll in yesterday’s paper too. PARADE calls itself America’s most widely-read magazine, reaching more than 70 million readers. Please be sure your voice gets heard in this poll! Tell PARADE America needs unions!

And with anti-union special interests waging a well-funded campaign of misinformation about the Employee Free Choice Act, you can be sure our opponents will be sending this poll around.

Let’s make sure they don’t skew the results. Vote YES today – America still needs unions!

You can check out more info on the Employee Free Choices at American Rights at Work at www.AmericanRightsatWork.org.

Asela Espiritu, UNAC/UHCP
(Photo by Luis Gómez)

Earlier today, thousands of union members rallied on Capitol Hill to demand a voice at the workplace. Not for themselves, but for millions of American workers who would like to have a union and the chance to bargain for a better future for themselves and their families.

Representing workers from across the country, marchers delivered hundreds of thousands of signed petitions demanding that Congress pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would allow them to form a union by signing cards authorizing union representation without being harassed by employers.

Asela Espiritu, a registered nurse in Orange County and member of United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, was there to share the story of how her union organized successfully through majority sign-up:

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that providing good benefits and a voice at the workplace creates loyal, hardworking employees. This is not a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is an American issue.”

After all, more than 78 percent of Americans support strong laws that make it easier for employees to bargain for better health care, pensions, wages and working conditions. Millions of workers can’t be wrong in wanting a ticket to the middle class and job security. In these times of economic need, union membership brings better benefits, fair wages and a real voice on the job.

Now the ball is in Congress’ court. Tell your legislators to do the right thing and make the Employee Free Choice Act their priority.