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:

Jun 24, 2022 | News Story

Postdoctoral Researchers at the Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine have this week voted 317 to 37 (89.5%) to choose Sinai Postdoctoral Organizing Committee-United Auto Workers (SPOC-UAW) as their union and bargaining representative, according to ballots tallied by the National Labor Relations B

Jun 24, 2022 | News Story

Partners at the Williamsburg Reserve at 154 North 7th Street in Brooklyn this week voted 10-0 to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.

Jun 24, 2022 | News Story

Last Friday, workers at non-profit NYC cinema Film Forum voted unanimously in favor of unionization with UAW Local 2110. Founded in 1970 in Greenwich Village, Film Forum offers a robust repertory program as well as hosting premieres of indies, international movies, and arthouse fare.

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75% of film and television Music Supervisors signed authorization cards to form a union and become part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), but on June 1, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) indicated they will not voluntarily recognize

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

At the 29th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia this week, delegates elected Liz Shuler to serve as President of the federation of 57 unions and 12.5 million members. Shuler is the first woman to hold the office in the history of the labor federation.

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

This week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Microsoft announced they have entered into a ground-breaking labor neutrality agreement, the first of its kind in the technology industry.

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

Members of Steamfitters Local 638, Sheet Metal Workers Local 28, Laborers Local 79, IBEW Local 3, Plumbers Local 1 and supporters are calling on legendary actor and native son of New York, Robert De Niro to ensure that the men and women working on the outside of the new $600 million-dollar, state

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

Over 100 ALAA-UAW Local 2325 members at Queens Defenders, accompanied by their union siblings from The Legal Aid Society, New York Legal Assistance Group, and 1199SEIU, rallied for an informational picket on Queens Boulevard, as they continue their 1.5 year struggle with Queens Defenders for a fi

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

The FY 2023 New York State budget included up to $3000 bonuses for frontline healthcare workers to acknowledge their efforts and the need to incentivize healthcare workers to enter and stay in healthcare.

Jun 17, 2022 | News Story

Vox Media’s 360-member bargaining unit yesterday near unanimously ratified its second collective bargaining agreement with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).