December 17, 2009
In response to the never-ending health care debate and particularly in response to the Democrats’ apparent compromise with Joe Lieberman (I-CT), AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a statement:
“For this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made . . . The AFL-CIO intends to fight on behalf of all working families to make those changes and win health care reform that is deserving of the name.” Trumka’s statement is a sign that union support of the Democratic majority as well as of the President is waning. Currently, the Public Option and the Medicare buy-in option for those 55 and over may be headed for the chopping block.
Service Employees International Union President, Andy Stern, wrote the following to his membership:
“President Obama must remember his own words from the campaign. His call of ‘Yes We Can’ was not just to us, not just to the millions of people who voted for him, but to himself. We all stood shoulder to shoulder with the President during his hard fought campaign. And, we will continue to stand with him but he must fight for the reform we all know is possible. Our challenge to you, Mr. President, to the Senate and to the House of Representatives is to fight . . . Now more than ever, all of us must stand up, remember what health care reform is all about, and fight like hell to deliver real meaningful reform to the American people.”