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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2006)
Washington among 31 states AFL-CIO will pursue health care legislation The Fair Share Health Care campaign is modeled on a bill the Maryland Legislature approved. WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — Giving up on pro-worker health care ac- tion from Congress, the AFL-CIO on Jan. 5 launched a campaign for state- by-state laws in 31 states —including Washington — requiring large compa- nies to provide health care for workers, or to pay the state to provide health care for the uninsured. The Fair Share Health Care cam- paign is modeled on a bill the Maryland Legislature approved last year. It man- dated all companies with more than 10,000 workers pay 8 percent of payroll costs for health care, or contribute the difference between what they do pay and that figure to a state fund for the uninsured. The AFL-CIO-sponsored legislation would have different figures for differ- ent states. The only big Maryland firm that flunked was Wal-Mart, and it urged Re- publican Gov. Robert Ehrlich to veto the bill, which he did. On Jan. 13, 2006, the Maryland House voted 88-60 in fa- vor of overriding the veto. National AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the drive is aimed at Wal- Mart and other large firms that do not cover their workers’ health insurance. “It’s nothing short of immoral that big, rich companies are shirking their responsibilities to their employees. We’re talking about mothers and fathers who are pushed to tears because they can’t take their children to the doctor. And it’s happening every day,” Sweeney said. Wal-Mart and its ilk force other companies that cover workers, state tax- payers and workers themselves to pick up the costs of the uninsured — a form of cost-shifting which Sweeney called “freeloading off workers, taxpayers and smaller businesses.” Meanwhile, unions find company at- tempts to cut back health care coverage, or transfer its costs to workers, are the big battles in bargaining for the last sev- eral years, Sweeney aide Gerald Shea said. As a result, many workers forgo raises in order to retain health care cov- erage, or see health care eat up their raises and pay, he added. The federation aims to change that scene through its legislative campaign, which will involve phone banks, lobby- ing state lawmakers and other pressure. If lawmakers refuse to consider a fair share bill, the AFL-CIO and its mem- ber unions, who have spent a year in drafting a model bill and planning, will hold them accountable at the polls, Initially the drive will be in Wash- ington — where a broader initiative died in the Legislature last year — Con- necticut, Iowa, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin. The number of people without health insurance continues to climb — from 41 million in 2000 to 46 million in 2004, according to government sta- tistics — at the same time, more com- panies are cutting back employer-based health coverage. In 2000, 69 percent of firms offered health coverage to work- ers, but in 2005 that percentage dropped to just 60 percent. In fact, more than a quarter of all firms with more than 500 employees don’t offer employer-based health insurance for workers and their families, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan private foundation that supports inde- pendent research into health care issues. Local Motion December 2005 Union election activity in Oregon and SW Washington, according to the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board Elections held Company Date Union Results: Union No Union 20 23 Location First Student 12/14 ATU Local 757 Molalla Aacres Allvest 12/16 IUSPFP vs. UGSO 38 Vancouver Lile International 12/22 Teamsters Local 162 Tualatin 7 5 1 26 9 Elections requested Company Union Location # of employees Safeway (Starbucks kiosk) United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555 The Dalles 5 McMinnville Richmond Baking 11 Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, Grain Millers Local 114 Mike Quevedo, Jr. President, Southern California District Council of Laborers Co-Chairman, Laborers Trust Funds for Southern California The bank of labor understands the unique requirements of labor management has been entrusted with Taft-Hartley trust funds for more than half a century provides dedicated labor management administrative teams always works hard for organized labor. ® Invest in you Labor Management Trust Services Jan Dawson, Vice President, (503) 450-1273 Louis Nagy, Vice President, (206) 587-3627 Labor Management Deposit Services Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085 John Mendoza, Vice President & Relationship Manager, (415) 705-7112 Visit us at uboc.com JANUARY 20, 2006 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ©2005 Union Bank of California, N.A. Member FDIC PAGE 5
