Greed Under Arrest

March 10, 2010

AFSCME members at the March 9th “mass citizens’ arrest” of health insurance executives. (Photo by D.W. Matthews Studios, LLC)

Thousands of demonstrators, including hundreds of AFSCME members, participated in a “mass citizens’ arrest” of health insurance executives as they met in our nation's capital on Tuesday to plan their continued efforts to defeat health care reform.

AFSCME activists from Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania joined the protest in front of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, D.C. where the health insurance lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), was holding its annual policy conference.

"We're doing something that we should have done a while ago," AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee told the Los Angeles Times. "Whatever it takes, we'll do."

Speaking to the Huffington Post, McEntee let our elected representatives know they are on notice:

"I hope this sends a message to Congress. I think we have to demonstrate that we are not going to stand aside, that we are going to take them out if they don't help us at all."

George Estright, a member of AFSCME Local 2162, told the AFL-CIO Now Blog why he traveled from Harrisburg, PA, for the rally:

"We support health care reform to control insurance company profits. It’s not right for working Americans to pay for 200 percent profits for insurance companies. We need something that is fair and equitable."

Press coverage included stories in McClatchy Newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, MedPage Today, the Baltimore Sun, Huffington Post and the Los Angeles Times. See photos from the event on Flickr:

Read more about the March 9th action in this AFSCME WORKS Online Xtra and in posts on the AFL-CIO Now and Health Care for America NOW! blogs.