This week, in Los Angeles, leaders of the nation’s labor union movement gathered together for the AFL-CIO’s annual convention. Along with the usual sessions on ‘political action,’ ‘solidarity’ and the like, union leaders shared their concerns about the impact of Obamacare on union-sponsored health insurance plans. Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said, “If the Affordable Care Act is not fixed, and it destroys the health and welfare funds that we have fought for and stand for, then I believe it needs to be repealed.”
“We don’t want it to be repealed,” O’Sullivan continued. “We want it to be fixed,” by allowing union members with employer-sponsored health coverage to take advantage of subsidies intended for the uninsured. “We’ve had our asses kicked on retirement security and we know our health funds are under siege. We ask the president and Congress to do the right thing for the men and women we represent.” |