August 21, 2009:NWLP
8/19/09
11:26 AM
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...Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO convention may
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National Education Association to join
state labor federations.
Labor has erupted into infighting in
recent months, with the Service Em-
ployees International Union (SEIU) ac-
cused of raiding other unions. Former
Northern California SEIU leader Sal
Roselli, founder of a new health care
union, had been scheduled to speak, but
withdrew after SEIU threatened to
picket and disrupt the convention.
In Wenatchee, delegates passed res-
olutions calling for greater labor unity,
and condemning SEIU President An-
drew Stern and other SEIU interna-
tional leaders for raiding UNITE/
HERE, the restaurant and textile work-
ers union.
Bob Baugh, executive director of
the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Coun-
cil, and Andrea Buffa of the Apollo Al-
liance explained cap-and-trade propos-
als designed to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and the importance of a
strategy to address climate change that
includes an effort to create jobs and re-
build America’s manufacturing base.
Convention delegates also passed
resolutions:
• Calling for the passage of the
TRADE Act of 2009, which would take
a different approach to future agree-
ments than the one taken in NAFTA;
• Endorsing HR 2564, a bill in Con-
gress which would guarantee paid va-
cation time for American workers;
• Supporting a new immigration
see health care floor fight
ARLENE BAKER HOLT
BOB BAUGH
policy for the United States based on
principles worked out by former Labor
Secretary Ray Marshall;
• Supporting passage of a state law
to mandate the payment of prevailing
wage on all public/private joint ven-
tures and partnerships.
The complete list of resolutions
passed is available at http://www.
wslc.org/2009res.htm.
The WSLC’s organizational Mother
Jones Award was presented to Machin-
ists District Lodge 751 for its solidarity
during last year’s 57-day strike at Boe-
ing Co.
The Mother Jones Award for an in-
dividual was presented to Ken Brown,
business manager of International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Lo-
cal 73 in Spokane, for his work on be-
half of members who lost their jobs
when Columbia Lighting shuttered its
facility and moved to Mexico.
And the WSLC’s Rising Star Award
was presented to Dusty Hoerler of
United Association of Plumbers and
Fitters Local 32 for his dedication and
participation in last fall’s Labor Neigh-
bor political action activities.
In all, the convention brought 317
delegates and three alternates and 58
guests to the Coast Wenatchee Hotel.
Highlights of the convention can be
watched online at tvw.org.
WASHINGTON,D.C. (PAI) —
With less than a month to go before
September’s AFL-CIO Convention in
Pittsburgh, the biggest floor fight there
may be over health care reform. And
that floor fight, in turn, could affect the
entire health care battle on Capitol
Hill.
That’s because while the labor fed-
eration has supported and actively
campaigned for legislation based on
the principles of universality, cost con-
trols, choosing your own doctor, and a
government-run alternative to insur-
ance companies, 552 labor bodies
want to go in a different direction: A
government-run single-payer system.
As of Aug. 10, four days before the
resolutions deadline, single-payer
health care coverage advocates had
sent 40 draft resolutions backing
health care reform bills HR 676 and S.
703 to the AFL-CIO.
On Aug. 16, during a wide ranging
speech to a convention of progressive
bloggers and web journalists (Netroots
Nation), AFL-CIO Secretary-Treas-
urer Richard Trumka said, “My prefer-
ence, and the feeling of many in the la-
bor movement, is that we should have
a single-payer health care system.”
Trumka will be at the September
convention in Pittsburgh, where he is
expected to be elected president of the
AFL-CIO.
If delegates are successful in win-
ning support for single-payer legisla-
tion, that could sink Congress’ and
President Barack Obama’s reform
plans.
HR 676 would institute a single-
payer health care system by expanding
and improving the Medicare system to
every U.S. citizen. HR 676 would
cover every person for all necessary
medical care including prescription
drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient
services, primary and preventive care,
emergency services, dental, mental
health, home health, physical therapy,
rehabilitation (including for substance
abuse), vision care, hearing services
including hearing aids, chiropractic,
durable medical equipment, palliative
care, and long term care.
HR 676 would end deductibles and
co-payments and save hundreds of bil-
lions annually by eliminating the high
overhead and profits of the private
health insurance industry.
In the current Congress, HR 676
has 86 co-sponsors in addition to its
sponsor, Democrat John Conyers of
Michigan.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Ver-
mont) has introduced a single-payer
bill in the Senate.
To date, none of Oregon’s congres-
sional delegation, nor U.S. Rep. Brian
Baird of Southwest Washington, have
co-sponsored the bill.
President Obama on Aug. 11 told a
pro-health care reform crowd in New
Hampshire that single-payer would
not get through Congress.
The resolutions submitted to the
AFL-CIO say health care “cost and
coverage are major stumbling blocks
in contract negotiations, causing
strikes, lock-outs, protracted delibera-
tions and lower monetary offers by
management.”
The resolutions sum up by simply
saying “health care is far too expensive
in the U.S.”
‘Labor Night’ at
ballpark slated
for Aug. 27
The Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council will spon-
sor “Labor Night at the Portland
Beavers” Thursday, Aug. 27. Tickets
are $12. The Beavers’ opponent is the
Tacoma Rainiers.
The game starts at 7 p.m., and the
first pitch will be thrown by Al Panek,
retired president of Teamsters Joint
Council No. 37 and former labor liai-
son to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.
Unions are encouraged to purchase
bulk tickets before Aug 25. Discount
tickets will not be available at the box
office. To order, call Brian Pollard at
503-553-5441 or go to bpol-
lard@pgepark.com.
AUGUST 21, 2009
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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