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.
More about this issue:
Starting July 12, New York City’s app-based delivery workers must be paid at least $17.96 an hour, not including tips — the first such minimum pay-rate in the country for an industry that exploded in popularity during the pandemic.
In a victory for live music, AFM Local 802 is thrilled to announce that David Byrne's upcoming show at the Broadway Theatre “Here Lies Love” will use live musicians.
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) this week announced it will be filing Unfair Labor Practice charges (ULPs) against REI, Inc. in both the SoHo and Cleveland unionized stores.
Projectionists at a Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse, the movie theater chain known for serving food and drinks during screenings, have filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Review Board.
Mediation between the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA)—which represents the captains, assistant captains, mates, engineers and chief engineers on the Staten Island Ferry— and the City, ongoing since last year, continues, with another meeting will take place next week.
NYCOSH has created a slideshow aimed at providing important information about how outdoor workers can protect themselves, including info about key terms, types of respirators, and how to conduct a "seal check.
In a powerful show of solidarity, SAG-AFTRA members have voted 97.91% in favor of a strike authorization ahead of negotiations of the TV/Theatrical Contracts, with nearly 65,000 members casting ballots for a voting percentage of 47.69% of eligible voters.
Wednesday night, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), announced that, by an overwhelming vote of 97% in favor of the union, workers at Barnes & Noble’s Flagship Union Square store have voted to join the RWDSU.
Workers at Insider have been on a ULP strike since June 2nd over management's decision to illegally change their health insurance, saddling them with higher costs and worse coverage.