Unions step up campaign for medicare for all campaign

[dcsmart]

More than 150 union leaders from 31 states gathered in St. Louis last weekend to step up a grassroots campaign to enact comprehensive national healthcare reform. The group is promoting a single-payer plan, which would work like an improved and expanded Medicare program to cover everyone.

The national kick-off meeting was convened by Labor for Single-Payer Healthcare, a campaign spearheaded by scores of trade union organizations. The national single-payer bill, HR 676 – expected to be reintroduced in Congress later this month – has been endorsed by 39 state AFL-CIO federations, 100 Central Labor Councils, and more than 400 local unions. The bill has 92 co-sponsors in Congress, more than any other health care reform bill.

In 2007, the national AFL-CIO Executive Council also adopted a resolution in support of the Medicare for All approach.

Speakers at the conference included three members of the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, three AFL-CIO state federation presidents, three Central Labor Council presidents along with many other major union leaders. A list of conference speakers is at the end of this news release.

FULL ARTICLE:
http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/unions-step-up-campaign-for-medicare-for-all-campaign/