For Labor, After Health Care Reform Next Goal Is Passing EFCA

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Commentary
By John A. Ostenburg

Organized labor in America has two major goals during the coming year: (1) to see health care reform enacted by the Congress of the United States, and (2) to see the same body pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Anyone in the nation who is not up on the current debate over health care and insurance, must have his/her head stuck firmly in the sand. Although lots of folks seem to lack a comprehensive knowledge of what actually is being debated in Washington, few can be accused of not at least knowing that a debate is going on.

As a result of special interest groups that are more interested in stopping any reform of health care coverage than in promoting it, the public's knowledge of what is being argued in the halls of government is clouded by false accusations of death panels, socialized medicine, cuts in Medicare, and the like. When folks turn on the television for the evening news, they see video reports of shouting protesters at town hall meetings alleging that President Barack Obama is akin to Adolph Hitler for evening suggesting that the American health care system has problems. The protesters have been convinced by someone that the President wants to force them either to see doctors not of their choosing or to go without medical care at all. Never mind that what he actually wants to do is reduce health insurance costs so each American will be able to afford to see the doctor of his or her choice in future years.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions are working diligently to set the record straight on health care reform. Labor leaders realize that some of the citizens who have been stirred to protest because of the misinformation that's being spread by the insurance industry and other special interests are retired union members. Many of them have seen their pensions disappear in recent years because of the collapse of companies that formerly employed them, and now they're being bombarded with propaganda that says their Medicare also is going to go away as a result of the President's reform efforts. Organized labor has a major task ahead of it in reversing the negative course on which many of its own members have erroneously embarked.

Labor also is putting the heat on legislators it has supported over the years and making it clear that health insurance reform is an issue that will decide what kind of future support will be forthcoming. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka -- destined to take over top leadership of the organization from retiring President John Sweeney at the AFL-CIO convention in September -- wrote on the Huffington Post blog recently that he intends to put the full force of labor behind only those candidates who show the courage to support a public option as part of insurance reform. "If you’re going to have health insurance reform, you must have a public option in it," he told lawmakers. "If you don’t, don’t expect us to support you."

If the timetable that the White House and congressional leaders currently are holding up in fact is followed, the health care issue should be decided -- one way or another -- no later than mid-fall. That's when the major push for passage of EFCA should be hitting federal lawmakers full force.

At present, companies completely control the process on how workers can form a union. Even if 100 percent of the workers at a given company have signed cards indicating their desire to organize, the company can refuse to recognize that action and insist instead that a secret-ballot election be held. What too often happens in the interim period between the employees' request to form a union and the election that has been scheduled by management is that pressure is put on a number of the workers -- including threats that they will lose their jobs or benefits -- as a means of influencing the outcome to the vote.

FULL story at link.