October 1, 2009
Stop the Tax on Health Care! Join the Fight
Now!
The bill produced so far by the Senate Finance Committee is
a
disaster for working families and retirees.
Here's the worst of it:
a 40 percent tax on employer health
plans that cost $8,000 or more for
individual plans and
$21,000 or more for family coverage. This bad idea will
hit
active and retired CWAers hard. It also will hurt workers and
families
in rural communities, where a single private insurance
company has just about
cornered the market, and workers in
high-risk occupations. It's bad public
policy.
CWA's research department figured out exactly what this
means:
Over 10 years, on average, the tax would cost $21,400 per
worker
with family coverage, $8,500 per worker with single
coverage and $23,800 for
a pre-Medicare retiree.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that
companies are
not going to pay this tax, they're going to cut benefits.
This
will make our country's health care crisis worse, not better.
CWA and the labor movement are fighting back and everyone needs
to
stand up for what's right. Here's what you can do right now:
Call your
senators. Give your name, city and state. Tell him or
her that we need health
care reform, but taxing health care is
the wrong way to go. What's better:
all employers should provide
health care and the wealthy, individuals who
earn more than
$280,000 and families earning $350,000, should pay their
fair
share too.
More on the campaign
at
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/fpqaLYp1TQaC/.
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Welcome to the Employee Free Choice Act Update.
As you know, passing the Employee Free Choice Act is one of
CWA's top priorities. The Employee Free Choice Act will help
make the economy work for all of us again by ensuring that
workers have a free choice and a fair chance to join a union.
Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs,
who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle
to get by. The Employee Free Choice Act gives us a chance to
restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions
and get better health care, job security, and benefits.
This bi-weekly update will provide you with the latest news
about our efforts to pass the Act and tools that you can use to
make a difference. You can also find in-depth material in the
Resources section at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9dzZqV510PDi/.
4,000 Rally for Employee Free Choice
In early February, thousands of workers from across the country
came to Capitol Hill to show support for the passage of the
Employee Free Choice Act. The event also featured remarks by
workers who have faced resistance and even been fired during
their efforts to organize their workplaces. Among them was CWA's
Sara Steffens, who was fired from her job at the Contra Costa
Times in retaliation for helping form a union at the paper. She
explained her support for the bill:
"We need the Employee Free Choice Act so we can feel empowered
to step up and help solve problems in our workplace, and not be
scared that if we stick our necks out that we're going to be the
next ones laid off."
Check out our video of Sara speaking at the Rally and hear more
of her story: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/kpzZqV510PDn/
Rally participants also began the process of delivering 1.5
million cards to Congress from supporters of the Employee Free
Choice Act, including more than 110,000 from CWA members. The
names of those supporters are being displayed online in a
continuous scroll. You can show your support for the Employee
Free Choice Act by placing the scroll on your own website or
blog. Learn more at:
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/91zZqV510PD8/
Letters to the Editor Get the Word Out
A New York Times editorial in late December made a powerful case
for the Employee Free Choice Act, referring to it as "vital
legislation" (http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/o1zZqV510PDo/). The
Times endorsement was impressive, but members of Congress often
look to newspapers, radio and TV stations, and blogs in their
home states to get a sense of support for legislation among
their own constituents.
That's why CWA members are busy writing letters to the editor to
their local papers in order to get the word out about the
Employee Free Choice Act. In North Carolina, Bill Burton saw a
letter from an opponent of the bill in the News and Observer and
wanted to make sure readers got the full story
(http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/9pzZqV510PD9/).
Burton wrote: "Employees DO keep secret-ballot rights under the
Employee Free Choice Act. They would simply gain an additional
way to seek a contract and union representation through card
check. The bill still provides for a secret-ballot election
should employees opt for it. [Kilpatrick Stockton lawyer
Richard] Haygood rightly assumes that most working men and women
will use the card check method to avoid the coercion, threats,
intimidation and even firings that companies use to discourage
employees from forming a union."
Get involved! Our online tool makes it easy to write your own
letter at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/odzZqV510PDl/, or you
can download a sample letter to edit and send yourself from
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/k7zZqV510PDh/ .
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