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Union Veterans Mobilized Around the Country for Election
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Yesterday, the AFL-CIO announced the formation of a Union Veterans Council to help get the country’s more than 2 million union veterans educated and mobilized. In states such as Minnesota, West Virginia and Colorado, union veterans joined together to talk about the important issues facing the country.
Members of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council will spend the coming months talking with union members and comparing the records of the presumptive presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.
The campaign kicked of with a rally in Dayton, Ohio, where nearly 100 union members, including many veterans, gathered for the launch of the Union Veterans Council. Speakers included AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Mark Ayers, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department and the head of the Union Veterans Council. Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola attended the rally, and Wes Wells, president of the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO Regional Labor Council and the father of a current service member, spoke.
Also yesterday, the West Virginia AFL-CIO organized a rally in support of union veterans in Charleston. Cecil Roberts, president of the Mine Workers (UMWA) and a member of the national Union Veterans Council, spoke to the crowd, as did Bob Brown, vice president of the West Virginia AFL-CIO and a decorated Vietnam veteran. The Charleston Gazette reports more than 700 union members came out to demand a president and Congress who will fight for veterans benefits and for all working families. Phil Smith, UMWA communications director, says the crowd was “very fired up and on their feet” at the stirring rally.
Elsewhere, union veterans took part in roundtable discussions in key states to talk about the challenges facing veterans, their families and the country. In these states, union members will form state-level Union Veterans Councils to support leaders who fight for veterans needs.
In Wisconsin, Dan Casey, a UAW member and 11-year Army veteran, was among many union veterans who attended a Milwaukee veterans roundtable. He says with the economy struggling, trade and health care are crucial, and those issues will drive his vote this fall.
In Denver, union members who are military veterans or family members of those currently serving, came together for a roundtable to discuss issues important to them in the 2008 elections. Union members discussed plans to elect leaders who are champions of working families and pass legislation that will help veterans and all working people. Phil Hayes, Labor 2008 state director for Colorado, says members of AFGE, Air Line Pilots (ALPA), Postal Workers (APWU) and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) participated in the discussion.
Robert Helmig of APWU said that veterans issues would be a major factor in his vote this fall.
There are two things that are close to my heart—veterans and workers—and they go hand-in-hand in my life. I want to get out there and educate veterans and union members about the differences between our two presidential candidates.
AFGE member Lance Stewart said union veterans would take the lead in energizing workers for the election.
Like all working people, veterans are worried about our future and our children’s future. Our country is headed in the wrong direction. The first-ever Union Veterans Council will bring union veterans together across Colorado on the issues that matter most to veterans, our families and all working people. And we’re starting by working to elect leaders who will put working people’s concerns first.
The Union Veterans Council kickoff in Minneapolis brought together local and national leaders, as well as rank-and-file members, concerned about veterans health and education benefits and the direction of the country. Minnesota AFL-CIO President and Air Force veteran Ray Waldron led the roundtable discussion. Also taking part were Ann Converso, RN, president of the United American Nurses (UAN), and J. David Cox, secretary-treasurer of AFGE. Converso and Cox co-chair the national Union Veterans Advisory Council.
Converso and Cox have served veterans at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals for most or all of their careers. Without sufficient funding for VA facilities, deserving veterans do not receive proper care. VA hospitals are busting at the seams and are struggling to provide proper care for the influx of military veterans and for the many veterans turning to the VA for care because of reduced medical coverage by their employers. Cox spent 23 years as a registered nurse in a VA hospital in North Carolina:
When veterans can’t get the health care they need when they need it because the veterans health care system is underfunded and understaffed….It’s time for a real change. When veterans can’t get ahead because they can’t afford the cost of education….It’s time for a real change. Real change, not the continuation of the failed policies of the Bush administration.
Cox pointed out that McCain voted against full funding for veterans health care four years in a row—against increased funding for veterans mental health coverage.
A wide range of union veterans took part in the discussion, including many who served their country during Vietnam and the first and second Gulf wars. Many rely on the VA and see the VA struggling to maintain high-quality care due to underfunding and understaffing. At the discussion, they noted that the country needs better leaders who will support returning veterans and their health needs.
The national Union Veterans Council and the local councils will continue to meet throughout the summer and fall to mobilize union veterans around the country.
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J.-Mc. is a disabled vet himself. Yet he votes against his own kind….and his own self interest. Never trust a man who does that. Must be nice to have a rich wife, eh?!!? However, I agree with J-Mc on one thing….all we disabled Vets need is “one plastic card” (his quote)…. a Medicaid Card for more local health care options. That would lighten V.A.’s load on newer vets from Mideast as it is already overloaded & underfunded!! Besides, our health care all comes from the same federal dollar. It’s time to end the beltway budget battle re: who gets what piece of the same federal pie. So all we vets need to do is change, conolidate, and streamline the VA healthcare system with just “one plastic card ” Named Medicaid, not VA.
While I agree that “one plastic card” sounds appealing, I know it does nothing to address the real issue at hand. Our VA healthcare system is recognized as the model healthcare system in America and this outsourcing mentality will lead to its demise and result in diminished care for our veterans.
Vouchers, credit cards and other such devices are but a Band-Aid, a cover that will divert our attention from the real “fix” while the underlying issue worsens. 400,000 veterans are awaiting decisions on disability claims while tens of thousands are waiting months to see a doctor. The problem is underfunding and understaffing – the F I X is an “Assured Funding Stream for Veterans’ Health Care.”
Funding that is based on a fixed formula that takes into account the annual changes in veterans’ population and inflation. We know how many veterans we have, we can anticipate how many veterans will be entering the system and are in need of Health Services. If we move away from the current discretionary funding formula which promotes a reckless spend or lose mentality and we move to a fixed funding formula, we will have a solution that addresses the root cause, a real fix.
I agree, it is unimaginable that S. McCain would vote against his fellow veterans. Thankfully we have a better choice. Senator Obama will not only do what is right for military veterans, he will do what is right for working American families.
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