Why Are Workers Doing the Heavy Lifting on Health Care?
08/01/08 | Comment (0)
(From Amber Sparks, UFCW)
Union members aren't superheroes. They're just ordinary people-working Americans like the rest of us. Yet they've got more fight in them then the politicians that are supposed to be fighting for us. Workers are the ones doing the heavy lifting on health care.
Every time UFCW members go to the bargaining table to negotiate a new contract, health care is the five hundred pound gorilla in the room. It's the same fight that we face in every contract negotiation these days, that battle for quality, affordable health care for all of our members.
As the costs of health care continue to march up an infinite incline, everyone suffers-employers are no exception. And employers respond by trying to cut their health care costs when negotiating a new contract, forcing us to spend all our energy and resources to preserve the quality of health care and keep workers' costs down, too.
If we had a health care system that covered all Americans, we could take the issue of health care off the bargaining table-and off the shoulders of workers-once and for all. That would give us more leverage to bargain for higher wages, a secure retirement, and other increased benefits for UFCW members across the country. It would also mean our friends and neighbors without a union could stop worrying about whether they can afford to take their sick kid to the doctor, or whether their insurance will cover the surgery they need.
This year it's time for us to hold politicians accountable for fixing our broken health care system. And since our politicians aren't superheroes, either-much as we'd like them to be-we have to support them and give them a gentle push in the right direction. Our politicians need to hear from us on the health care crisis-so they can break the gridlock in Washington and start fighting for us.
