Putting America Back on Track

For years, AFSCME has fought to repair the nation’s health care system. Today, through the Make America Happen campaign, we are the leading voice in the fight for quality, affordable health care for all.

By Gonzalo Baeza

AFSCME members are on the frontlines of the economic crisis. Budget deficits and escalating health care costs are weighing down state and local governments, affecting our members’ salaries and jeopardizing their health benefits. Public employees are being forced to choose between well-deserved wage increases and their current level of health care benefits.

Pres. Gerald W. McEntee has said, “We know there’s a right way and a wrong way to come out of this mess. The right way is to invest in workers, families and services, to build them up and strengthen them.”

The goal of AFSCME’s “Make America Happen” campaign is to generate grassroots support for enacting the bold programs necessary to address our nation’s challenges.

The campaign has three goals: reform that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all; robust investment in public services that will strengthen our economy; and growing the middle class by passing the Employee Free Choice Act, a vital measure that would restore the freedom of workers to join a union.

Goal 1: Health Care for All

Voices from the Battle | In July, AFSCME launched a new television ad featuring the union’s nurses. Like Bonnie Eisenklam, a member of Local 1373 Council 93) and a licensed practical nurse at the Barron Center in Portland, Maine, these members are the daily witnesses to the nation’s desperate need for health care reform. Photo:a-political

The need for health care reform has never been more clear than it is today. As President Obama said during a recent White House meeting with health care industry representatives: “Reform is not a luxury that can be postponed but a necessity that cannot wait.”

From 1996 to 2006, total spending on health care doubled. It is projected to rise to 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2025. The United States spent nearly $2.2 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person — almost twice the average of other developed countries. Premiums are soaring too. Employer-sponsored family coverage has risen from an average of $5,791 to $12,680 a year, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Rising costs threaten the economic security of working families, strain state and federal budgets and reduce the competitiveness of American businesses.

“Everyone should have basic health care,” says Denalie Bruins, who has been a nurse for over 35 years and is a member of AFSCME Local 398 (Council 9) in Missoula, Mont. “People should have options and there should be a safety net. Health care shouldn’t just be a privilege, it should be a right.”

AFSCME members made this clear in June when 2,000 of them gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol and joined thousands of other union activists. They reminded Congress that health care reform can’t wait. The U.S. House of Representatives has already finalized a health care reform bill that would require everyone to have health insurance and make employers provide it or pay a penalty. It would also create a public insurance plan to compete with private insurance companies while protecting middle class Americans from an unnecessary tax increase on their health benefits. As President McEntee said after the bill was presented by the House leadership, “Congress needs to get this bill on President Obama’s desk as quickly as possible. We are going to fight a concerted ground war to get the votes we need on Capitol Hill to make reform happen.”

We need quality, affordable health care for everyone that protects good health benefits, lowers costs and provides comprehensive coverage options — including the choice of a quality public health insurance plan. Public plans have lower costs because they aren’t driven by the need to make a profit. A public health insurance option that competes with private plans will force the latter to be more cost-efficient, guaranteeing quality and setting a benchmark for coverage and transparency.

Real health care reform means real options. If you have a plan you like, you should be able to keep it. If you lack health insurance or are dissatisfied with your coverage, you should have alternatives.

Employers should also pay their fair share of costs. Our health care system is based on employer-provided coverage. Nearly six out of ten Americans receive health care through their jobs, but some businesses are increasingly shirking their responsibility. Employers who fail to provide health insurance drive up the cost of coverage for the rest of us. The cost of care for the uninsured increases the family coverage premium paid by you and your employer by an annual $1,100.

Finally, health benefits should not be taxed. More than 160 million people get their coverage through their employer, as workers, dependents or retirees. Such a measure would only make coverage more expensive for working families. This is precisely why President Obama campaigned against taxing benefits.

Goal 2: Public Services We Can Count On

Lobbying for Change | Over 700 AFSCME leaders and activists attended the Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, this spring. Attendees learned how to effectively deliver the message of protecting public services and later lobbied their representatives on Capitol Hill. Photo: Luis Gómez

Investing in public services generates jobs and a strong economy. With thousands of Americans losing their jobs every week and national unemployment fast approaching 10 percent, demand for public services is through the roof. One in four U.S. children and 60 percent of nursing home residents now rely on Medicaid for health care. Meanwhile, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has grown to nearly 6.5 million, while more are turning to emergency extended state and federal programs.

President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was a first step in the right direction, allocating $787 billion in federal aid to jumpstart the economy. ARRA intends to create or save nearly four million jobs while investing in public services to meet the increased demand. In the last few months alone, the bill has saved or created 150,000 jobs. More recently, the Obama administration announced that it would ramp up the ARRA spending so that it saves or creates an additional 600,000 jobs during its second 100 days. According to economist Mark Zandi, a former advisor to Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), every dollar invested in public services yields $1.38 in economic growth.

But even as ARRA provides state and local governments with $225 billion in federal funding for public services, states still face nearly $350 billion in budget shortfalls for the next three fiscal years. Given how state and local governments rely on federal funding for approximately 30 percent of their revenues, increasing federal investment in public services ensures that communities can bank on their health and safety.

AFSCME members know this better than anybody. They understand how crucial it is to keep public services well-funded and operating reliably.

AFSCME Local 1458 (Council 93) Pres. Bob Bolduc, a highway worker in Lewiston, Maine, is one of the millions of public workers who are making America happen in these difficult times.

“By working on the public roads and plowing in the wintertime, I make it safe for everybody — the emergency vehicles, the police department, our school buses and everyone who goes back and forth to work,” Bolduc says.

Goal 3: Strengthening the Middle Class

Standing Up for Workers: | “If a union is what you want, then a union is what you should get,” Vice Pres. Joe Biden declared during AFSCME’s 2009 Legislative Conference, expressing his support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Photo: Luis Gómez

 

The facts speak for themselves. On average, union workers earn 28 percent more than non-union members and they are 52 percent more likely to have health care. Why aren’t more workers joining unions?

A new study by Cornell University labor expert Kate Bronfenbrenner makes clear that employee intimidation is a compelling factor. The study found that during organizing drives, employers fire pro-union workers in 34 percent of the campaigns. Although the incentive to bargain for a better future is strong, employees need protection from coercion and a murky legal system that too often doesn’t clarify their rights.

The Employee Free Choice Act would level the playing field by restoring the freedom of workers to decide if they want to join a union. There are two ways workers can win the right to union representation — through an election or by signing cards, known as majority sign-up. Currently, employers choose which option is used. The Employee Free Choice Act would put that decision in the hands of workers. The bill would also toughen penalties on employers that fire pro-union workers.

Local 2196 (Council 88) Pres. Wendy VanCleve, an instructional assistant at the Chichester School District in Marcus Hook, Penn., speaks from experience about the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.

“My husband works for a steel company and they just tried to organize a union. Workers received very threatening letters and many of them ended up backing down because they were afraid of losing their jobs,” says VanCleve.

Seventy-three percent of Americans support the Employee Free Choice Act. Pres. Barack Obama, one of the original co-sponsors of the bill as an Illinois senator, remains unyielding in his support. Recently, while discussing the importance of this initiative, he stated: “Even if you’re not a member of a union, you owe something to unions. A lot of things that you take for granted as an employee of a company, the idea of overtime and minimum wage and benefits, that happened because unions fought and helped to make employers more accountable.”

For more information on how to be part of AFSCME’s campaign, go to: MakeAmericaHappen.com.