One Union Worker from Omaha Says: We Need ‘Made in America’
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Bill Redler of Omaha, Neb., knows both the hard times of the American construction worker today and the right way forward.
The union plumber, whose first child is on the way, tries not to spend a penny on anything, unless it’s made in America.
“I’ve gotten militant about it, and it turns out that it’s not that hard. We’ve got to quit buying from China. We’ve got to start taxing companies if they want to send jobs to China and then sell products here. That’s the bottom line. We need to be building everything here….Made in America,” he said.
Delivering Letters—and a Message to Congress on Health Care
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This week, union leaders and activists visited more than 100 members of Congress to deliver thousands of letters from union members with a simple message: Pass real health care reform now-without a new tax on workers’ benefits.
Mark Whetstone and Gloria Kortum, two AFGE members, flew in from Nebraska on Wednesday to ask Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) to support real health care reform. Kortum and Whetstone say they’re concerned about the effects of the health care crisis on families and small businesses in Nebraska—and they hope that reform will be fairly financed, not by taxing benefits. Whetstone said:
One of the prime concerns for federal employees is the tax in the bill. It will have ramifications well into the future. We want to make sure Sen. Nelson knows we’re concerned about legislation that contains an excise tax. We know he’s a pivotal vote and he needs to hear from his constituents.
At Roundtables, Workers Demand Health Care Reform
This week, the grassroots movement for health care reform centered on working family roundtables where dozens of participants in key states testified about the need to fix the nation’s broken health care system.
In Gary, Ind., more than 50 attendees, including union members, faith leaders and civil right activists, came together last night to discuss the changes we need to make health care accessible and affordable.
Roundtables also took place in Wisconsin and Nebraska this week, with many more scheduled in the days ahead.
Working families say their big concern about the current Senate health care reform bill is that it would tax health benefits. The Senate bill includes a tax on health plans that cost more than $8,500 a year for individuals or $23,000 a year for families—but that’s not the right way to fund reform.
New Report Shows Health Care Reform Will Lower Cost
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The next two weeks will be a pivotal time in the nation’s history as the U.S. Senate debates health care reform.
Health care reform will help control costs to families, lowering out-of-pocket costs for most people buying insurance, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. But there’s still a long way to go to make the Senate’s bill into the kind of reform our country needs, and union members are taking the lead in that fight.
This week and next, union members, unemployed workers, faith leaders and community allies of health care reform will join together for roundtable discussions in key states like Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana. They’ll share real-life stories about their experiences with the nation’s broken health care system and what we need to do to fix it.
Union leaders from around the country also will be coming to Washington, D.C., next week to visit members of Congress and emphasize the message that hundreds of thousands of union members and allies have delivered letters and made phone calls all year: We need health care reform that works for working families.
The Cost of ‘No’ and Other Health Care Perspectives
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Here’s the latest news from the fight for real health care reform:
• In the Baltimore Sun, Tom Schaller looks at how the nation’s broken health care system is undermining our economy. The cost of doing nothing to reform health care would be trillions of dollars, he says.
• In a great new piece at the Huffington Post, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) explains why he’s saying “Yes” to health care reform. We’re at a defining historical moment, Bennet says, and we can’t afford to continue the status quo.
• Think Progress looks at how insurance company bureaucrats are standing between patients and their doctors.
• The National Farmers Union has come out in support of health care reform, saying rural families need lower costs, more choices and better access to care. Senators from heavily rural states like Arkansas, Maine and Nebraska should pay attention.
Let’s Have a Real Senate Debate on Health Care
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Next week, the U.S. Senate is expected to begin debate on long-promised health care reform legislation. We’ve waited decades and fought hard for this moment—but progress could be blocked if a minority of senators refuses to allow a fair debate and a fair vote.
That’s right: Despite huge wins for pro-working family, pro-health care reform candidates in the House and Senate and the election of a pro-health care reform president, a few senators can do the bidding of insurance companies and prevent a bill from getting to the floor or getting a vote.
Now is the time to contact your senators and tell them: Health care can’t wait. It’s time for action.
Here’s more news from the fight for real health care reform:
- The Alliance for Retired Americans offered thanks to members of the U.S. House who voted to pass a health care reform bill that will improve Medicare and help the young and seniors alike. Alliance members also are protesting insurance companies like Humana that have used scare tactics and falsehoods to try and stop reform.
Dingell Explains Decades-Long Quest for Health Reform, and Other News
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Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been fighting for health care reform for more than 50 years, and he’s seen the situation become even more dire over the past decade. In a great new op-ed, he explains the hard truths of our broken system and why we can’t wait any longer for health care reform:
This is not a time to give into fear….Reform is neither easy nor cheap, but the cost of inaction is far greater—in terms of lives lost, quality of life, and dollars. Make no mistake, if we don’t reduce costs we face certain economic disaster.
I will tell my fellow members, when you explain a vote like this one to the generations that live with the consequences of these decisions there is no poll, not even an election result, that can justify your decision. You will be asked about this vote until the day you die. Years from now, none of these things we put so much stock in now will matter. All anyone will want to know is: did you do the right thing when history called on you? It is time for health care reform. We can’t afford to wait. We can’t afford to think small. We can’t afford to fail.
AFSCME Members Make ‘House Calls for Health Care’
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Across the country this weekend, AFSCME nurses and community leaders made house calls, getting their neighbors mobilized to pass health care reform that provides affordable coverage to everyone. These nurses and volunteers asked the people they visited to contact their senators and House members and demand health care reform that really works.
Clad in green scrubs, the AFSCME members went door to door in key states, including Arkansas, Nebraska, Maine, Ohio, North Dakota, Louisiana, Indiana and Delaware. Working America members also took part in door-to-door canvasses for health care reform.
Valentina Zamora-Arreola, a registered nurse in Arkansas, said that health care workers see every day the need for a fairer system:
One of the most important things that we want to see is that healthcare reform is done right. We want to make sure that nurses have their voice out there. We deal with the people when they are sick and we want to make sure that we are looking at healthcare reform options and that we have a public health option.
Lots of Action in Lots of States in Support of Employee Free Choice
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| Hundreds of Colorado union members turned out to show their support for Employee Free Choice at a town hall meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet. |
At a town hall meeting in Colorado and events in key states, union members and allies are asking their senators to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone.
Don Slaiman, who’s working on the Employee Free Choice Act campaign in the critical state of Colorado, reports that recently appointed Sen. Michael Bennet visited Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 68 hall to hear from workers about the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s one of several town hall meetings Bennet has held around the state, and workers are showing him how strong and broad their support is, Slaiman says:
We had over 400 union members in attendance, representing…almost every local and every part of the state. The appearance, energy, sentiments, diversity and breadth of participation were tremendous.
Vets, Small Business Owners Back Employee Free Choice
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Many of America’s veterans have come out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act, among them, active and retired union members who have served in the armed forces. In Arkansas, these vets got together Wednesday for a briefing to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act. They discussed how the freedom to form a union and fairness and respect in the workplace are among the values for which they fought.
David Anderson, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran and president of the Arkansas State Association of Letter Carriers, said the Employee Free Choice Act is needed to give workers who serve their country and community the opportunities they deserve:
The same workers who helped make these companies successful are intimidated and sometimes fired for trying to organize the workers in their job. What a sad way to treat those workers, especially the veterans.
