Jan. 1, 2010:NWLP
12/28/09
11:37 AM
Page 8
Unions ponder health reform bill
Making spirits bright in Salem
Marion, Polk, Yamhill Counties Central Labor Council held its 69th annual
Holiday Party last month at the Elsinore Theatre in Salem. A packed house
of kids, their parents, and grandparents had a chance to meet Santa and Mrs.
Claus, played by Jack Rusen of Albany Steelworkers Local 6163 and his wife,
(pictured above) after seeing the movie “Ice Age III: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.”
The Patrick Lamb Band, members of Musicians Local 99, sang Christmas
carols and, afterward, everyone received a goodie bag. The labor council funds
the annual event through donations from more than 14 union affiliates and
unionized businesses. Serving as master of ceremonies again this year was Jeff
Anderson (standing with Santa hat), secretary-treasurer of United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 555.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The
health care reform bill passed by the
U.S. Senate on Christmas Eve is inade-
quate and too tilted toward the insur-
ance industry, AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka said .
Senators approved the 2,700-page
legislation, which would affect every-
one in the U.S., by a 60-39 party-line
vote at 7 a.m., after marathon debate
forced by the chamber’s 40 Republi-
cans. A small number of Democratic
senators also held the bill hostage by
threatening to block a vote.
The AFL-CIO said the bill that fi-
nally passed puts the interests of insur-
ance companies — and senators who
would rather look out for the insurance
companies — ahead of real reform.
“The labor movement has been
fighting for health care for nearly 100
years and we are not about to stop
fighting now, when it really matters,”
Trumka said. “But for this health care
bill to be worthy of the support of
working men and women, substantial
changes must be made. Genuine health
care reform must bring down health
costs, hold insurance companies ac-
countable, assure that Americans can
get the health care they need, and be fi-
nanced fairly.”
Labor acknowledged that the Sen-
ate’s bill makes a lot of important and
necessary changes to the health care
system, but says it falls short in three
key areas:
• It lacks a public health insurance
option, to offer real competition to in-
surance companies to bring down costs.
• It fails to make sure employers
take responsibility and pay their fair
share.
• It’s funded through a new tax on
working families’ health care benefits.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,”
Trumka said.
The AFL-CIO supports the health
care reform bill passed by the U.S.
House. The House bill finances health
care through a small tax on the very
wealthiest of earners — those who
reaped vast benefits from the Bush tax
cuts — and it includes a public health
insurance plan and real responsibility
for employers.
Change To Win issued no statement,
but posted on its Web site an open letter
from Service Employees President
Andy Stern, the coalition’s largest
union.
“At the very moment that we saw
real and meaningful changes within our
grasp, one senator came forward to say
‘No, we can’t,’ Stern wrote, referring
to Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman,
though not by name. “He can’t let the
Senate have an up-or-down vote on
health insurance reform. And the result
of this senator saying ‘we can’t?’ The
public option is declared impossible.
Americans cannot purchase Medicare
at an earlier age. The health insurance
reform effort we have needed for a cen-
tury is at risk.”
There is still much work to be done
to attain a final bill. Representatives of
the House and Senate now must meet
in conference committee to merge their
two bills before a final vote is taken.
The AFL-CIO and its affiliated
unions are asking union members to
contact their congressional representa-
tives and encourage them to support the
House version of health care insurance
reform.
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PAGE 8
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 1, 2010