Maine State AFL-CIO Urges National to Endorse HR 676 at September Convention

Maine State AFL-CIO Urges National to Endorse HR 676 at September  Convention

Maine State AFL-CIO Urges National to Endorse HR 676 at September Convention

Augusta, Maine.   On Wednesday, May 20, 2009, the Maine State AFL-CIO
reaffirmed its commitment to Universal Single Payer Health Care and
adopted a resolution to be presented at the National AFL-CIO convention
supporting HR 676, The United States National Health Care Act.  The
AFL-CIO Convention will be held in Pittsburgh, September 14-17, 2009.

The Maine resolution calls upon the national AFL-CIO to push for real
health care reform and support HR 676.  Don Berry, Vice President of the
Maine State AFL-CIO, said:  "This is an issue that we can't afford to
ignore because it's not just a union issue;  this is an issue that affects
everyone."

Berry went on to say:  "We need to relentlessly push for a healthcare
system that will truly work for our members, the general public and all
working people and that is a national single payer system such as that
embodied in HR 676.  With this resolution we are calling on the
institutions of the labor movement to act like a genuine rights based
social movement around the issue of health care – that means articulating
and fighting for the rights that we truly want, organizing around a long
term strategy, and tirelessly educating and mobilizing our rank and file
membership to win those basic rights."

"If our only assessment was what kind of compromised legislation might be
able to get through Congress in the immediate term, would the victories of
the Civil Rights movement have ever occurred?  How much longer would women
have waited for the right to vote, how much longer would it have taken to
eliminate slavery, how much longer would workers have had to wait for the
8 hour day or the weekend?  All of those things were won because social
movements were built that demanded the basic rights they deserved and
nothing less.  We ask no less from today's labor movement when it comes to
the issue of healthcare," Vice President Berry concluded.     #30#

HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system by expanding a
greatly improved Medicare system to everyone residing in the U. S.

HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care including
prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and
preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health,
physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision
care, hearing services including hearing aids, chiropractic, durable
medical equipment, palliative care, and long term care.

HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments.  HR 676 would save hundreds of
billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the
private health insurance industry and HMOs.

In the current Congress, HR 676 has 78 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced SB 703, a single payer bill
in the Senate.

HR 676 has been endorsed by 520 union organizations in 49 states including
127 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 state
AFL-CIO's (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO,
MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI,
MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).

For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample
endorsement resolution, contact:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org
06/03/09