New Yorkers Demand Fair Share Health Care

by Mike Hall, May 25, 2006

“No employee of a multi-billion dollar corporation should be forced to go without medical care.”

That’s what the t-shirts said on more than 400 New Yorkers who told lawmakers at a special State Assembly hearing May 23 in Albany to pass Fair Share Health Care legislation.

Fair Share legislation and initiatives, which the AFL-CIO, unions and health care advocates are pushing in more than 30 states, would ensure that the largest corporations like Wal-Mart stop shifting health care insurance costs to workers, taxpayers and other businesses. In general, the initiatives require large, profitable companies to spend a percentage of their payroll on employee health care or pay into a state fund. In March, the AFL-CIO released a report showing just how much Wal-Mart’s health care cost-shifting is costing states.

In New York, which is considering several Fair Share bills, activists from unions and community, civil rights and faith groups gathered from around the state to meet with legislators and rally outside the State Capitol following the hearing.

Ed Donnelly, New York State AFL-CIO legislative director, told the hearing:

The rise of the “fair share health insurance” movement is nationwide, obviously driven by the flagrant corporate irresponsibility of Wal-Mart….The problem covers all sectors of the New York economy and characterizes nonunion construction, trucking, tourism, entertainment, health care delivery and in some instances public employment…

The choice is not a complicated one: Require all employers to shoulder a share of the burden.

Bob Master, legislative and political mobilization director for District 1 of the Communications Workers of America, said:

Two-thirds of uninsured are in working families. The failure of large businesses to provide insurance is not only a human tragedy for those unable to get needed health care. It also raises costs of insurance, undermines good employers who do provide coverage and costs taxpayers $1 billion each year.…In the current climate, we cannot deal with the health care crisis with a further expansion of public spending. And we cannot expect working families to pay more. So that means we need to ask businesses to stop shifting their costs to the public and pay their fair share.

Master is also co-chair of the state’s Working Family Party (WFP), which helped organize the rally. Hundreds of people shared their thoughts about Fair Share Health Care when they signed a petition on the WFP blog.

Here are samples of their comments:

“Taxpayers ought not be forced to subsidize multi-billion dollar corporations with tax dollars…. Hard-working people deserve secure medical coverage, given the vital part they play in the success of their employers and in the American economy.” —Margareta Casanave, Brooklyn

“Stop the trend of cutting health care and pensions. The middle class is being destroyed, and the rift between the few wealthy and the poor is widening.” —Sue Abbott-Jones, Bloomingdale

“Too many people in this region are having to choose between taking care of their health problems and buying adequate food or fixing a roof. Health care is a right not a privilege.” —Jean Dickson, Buffalo

“I work at Wal-Mart and have seen women have to choose between feeding their children, paying their bills or getting the medical attention they need. I’ve been told straight out they cannot afford Wal-Mart insurance.” —Anonymous

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