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Act Now for Health Care Reform: A Message from International President Edwin D. Hill

November 2, 2009

Brothers and Sisters:

The future of health care reform has come down to this moment. House Democrats introduced their version of health care reform last week and their Senate counterparts will be doing the same in a matter of days.

It now depends on us to make sure a decent and comprehensive health care bill ends up on President Obama’s desk by the New Year. I need you to mobilize every member in the country to make sure our representatives in Washington stand with us on health care reform.

Since my first days in the IBEW, making quality and affordable health care readily available to all working Americans has been one of the labor movement’s top aspirations.

I don’t need to remind you how important this cause is. Now more than ever we need to fix our dysfunctional health care system. We have seen our premiums go up each year, while insurance companies get away with denying more and more Americans the care they need due to “pre-existing” conditions.

Too often when bargaining with employers, we are forced to take cutbacks to wages and other benefits just to maintain our current health coverage.

All the while, more and more of our nonunion competitors are getting away with denying their employees coverage, undercutting union labor.

IBEW members voted in record numbers in 2008 to elect a new President and a Congress committed to real change, including overhauling our broken health care system. Now we need to go to bat one more time to make this change a reality.

Starting November 5, I need every single member to do to the following:

• Call your members of Congress at 1-877-3-AFL-CIO and tell them that health care reform must include:
  • A strong public health insurance option that will bring down costs and guarantee
    affordable health care for all.
  • A guarantee that employers pay their fair share for health care.
  • and NO taxes on our health benefits.
• Gather signatures from your co-workers supporting health care reform to send to Congress. Petitions can be downloaded here. For more downloads, click here.
• Write a letter to your local newspaper telling them that health care reform can’t wait. Click here for a sample letter to the editor. 

This is perhaps the last opportunity in my lifetime to see Harry Truman’s dream of universal and accessible health care for all Americans become a reality. We must act.

 For more information, contact the Political/Legislative Department at 202 728-6046 or go to www.aflcio.org/healthcare.