Vermont Proud to Be First State on Verge of Universal Health Care

CWA Members, SIF Funds, Helped Advance Groundbreaking Campaign

Vermont CWAers joined with thousands of other activists to march, rally, lobby and testify in support of their state’s ground-breaking universal health care bill.

As other states fixate on ways to take rights, services and benefits away from people, Vermont's legislature has boldly passed the nation's first single-payer bill to provide affordable health care for all Vermonters.

CWA members testified, rallied and helped educate the public about the bill, which removes from employers the costly burden of providing health insurance.

"We want health care to follow the individual and not be a requirement of the employer, which we think will be a huge jobs creator," said Gov. Pete Shumlin, speaking on the Rachel Maddow show. He said Vermont wants to be the first state to "treat health care as a right and not a privilege."

Both the state House and Senate have passed the bill, but need to iron out differences in the two versions before Shumlin can sign a final version into law.

The bill doesn't spell out all the details for the new system, but acts as a road map to get the state to the point where universal coverage can go into effect in 2017. Provisions include cutting administrative expenses to contain health care costs and evaluations of pilot programs to ensure that patients aren't adversely affected.

CWA nationally helped the Vermont locals wage the campaign for the bill, with Strategic Industry Funds made available so that members could afford to take leave from work to testify, rally and lobby for the legislation.
Workers Killed, Hurt on the Job Honored on Workers' Memorial Day

From Boston to Sacramento, hundreds of Workers' Memorial Day events last Thursday brought together union members and other activists to honor and mourn working people killed or injured on the job.

Memorial events reminded workers that 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose oversight has greatly reduced safety and health risks at U.S. workplaces.

CWA members joined with central labor councils to host memorials and other activities from coast to coast, including Trenton, New York City, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Akron, Cleveland, Houston, Tacoma, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In South Bend, Ind., Local 4900 members joined with the state's AFL-CIO for a festival that offered safety and health education, and honored an Indiana union activist who died fighting a fire in 2010.

In Boston, IUE-CWA Local 81201 and other unions honored 47 workers who lost their lives on the job in Massachusetts in 2010. The event brought together victims' families, community members and workplace safety advocates, who collectively called on the state legislature to take action to prevent the loss of more workers' lives.