Health Care
Health care is a basic human right. America’s labor movement has worked for more than a century for guaranteed high-quality health care for everyone. The Affordable Care Act is a historic milestone on this journey, but we still have a long way to go.
America must continue moving forward toward a more equitable and cost-effective health care system. Moving forward means working with employers to demand health care payment and delivery reforms to control costs, allowing people of all ages to buy into the equivalent of Medicare through a public plan option and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Of course, the most cost-effective and equitable way to provide quality health care is through the social insurance model (“Medicare for All”), as other industrialized countries have shown.
The worst thing we could do is move backward by repealing the Affordable Care Act or its key provisions; privatizing Medicare or turning it into a voucher program; raising the Medicare eligibility age; increasing Medicare co-pays and deductibles or otherwise cutting Medicare benefits; or taxing employment-based health care benefits.
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Physician members of Doctors Council - Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the union representing thousands of frontline doctors across New York City, have provided a 10 day notice to NYC Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H) and its private sector affiliates, PAGNY (Physician Affiliate Group of
Despite safe-staffing laws enacted by the state in recent years, a recent study from the New York State Nurses Association found that just one-third of surveyed hospitals complied with the mandate to publicly post staffing plans in all hospital units and failed to staff intensive care units at th
REI SoHo ski shop workers unionized with the RWDSU walked off the job on a ULP strike on Wed, Dec 4, and have been out on the picket line at 303 Lafayette Street since. Ski shop workers are required to melt plastic and wax to repair skis, up to 8-15 pairs a day at the peak of ski season.
In 2024, the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO strengthened our partnerships with our affiliates across the City, helped bring victories in tough contract fights, and advocated for policies that protect and uplift working people.
Thousands of Amazon workers have ended their days-long strike against the company, but the the Teamsters are warning that their efforts are only beginning.
Between December 20th and 24th, thousands of Starbucks baristas walked off the job, closing hundreds of stores in 43 states. Together, these were the biggest ULP strikes in Starbucks history. (Pictured: striking workers outside the flagship NYC Reserve Roastery in Chelsea.)
REI SoHo ski shop workers unionized with the RWDSU walked off the job on a ULP strike on Wed, Dec 4, and have been out on the picket line at 303 Lafayette Street since. Ski shop workers are required to melt plastic and wax to repair skis, up to 8-15 pairs a day at the peak of ski season.
The Teamsters yesterday launched the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history, following Amazon’s repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain with the thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters.
REI SoHo ski shop workers unionized with the RWDSU walked off the job on a ULP strike on Wed, Dec 4, and remain on the picket line. Ski shop workers are required to melt plastic and wax to repair skis, up to 8-15 pairs a day at the peak of ski season.