health care

  • Should Single-Payer Activists Back Down?

    Despite many expressions of support and much advocacy for a single-payer health plan, it hasn't captivated the country in the lengthy health care debate nor moved a bill through Congress. The onus is on single-payer supporters to “take a step back," an AFL staffer argued.

  • "Irresponsible" Striking

    We’ve known for a while now that the economic crisis has dampened the willingness of workers to head out on strike (with some courageous exceptions). That’s partly due to the business class and the corporate press, who take every opportunity to poison the atmosphere against rank and filers who dare to resist corporate demands.

  • 10-Week Chicago Teamsters Strike Wins Back Health Care
    Enku Ide
    Nov 5 2009 - 4:43pm

    When SK Hand Tools in Chicago unilaterally dropped health insurance and tried to strip pensions and cut pay, workers headed to picket lines. Now they're returning to work after 10 weeks on strike, having saved their health care and pensions.

  • What If the Postal Service Ran like Health Care?

    This skit was written by a postal worker. It asks the question: What would mail service be like in the U.S. if it was run by health insurance companies, with all their restrictions, extra fees, and bureaucracy?

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Two Health Care Resolutions; Everybody's Happy

    After President Obama speaks later today, the AFL-CIO convention will consider two health care resolutions, but won't vote them against each other.

    Both are expected to pass unanimously.

  • AFL-CIO Convention: Reform? We'll take it!

    Asked whether the AFL-CIO would stick to earlier statements that the federation will not support a health care reform bill without a government-insurance “public option,” incoming federation President Rich Trumka ducked this morning.

  • Chicago Teamsters Strike to Save Health Insurance
    Jane Slaughter
    Aug 31 2009 - 10:27pm

    You take your kid to the dentist and go to pay the $20 co-pay. “Oh, no,” says the receptionist. “You have to pay the whole bill—you don't have insurance.” That’s how a member of Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago found out that his employer, SK Hand Tools, had unilaterally and without notice cancelled health insurance for the workforce.

  • How Canadians Won Single Payer
    Kyle Buott
    Aug 28 2009 - 10:06pm
  • Hospital Closings Test Unions’ Ability to Defend Poor Communities
    Mischa Gaus
    Aug 27 2009 - 9:14pm
  • Rallying for "Medicare for All," Union Activists Shift Focus to States
    Chris Garlock and Mischa Gaus
    Jul 31 2009 - 5:33pm

    In blazing midday heat in Upper Senate Park, a small but vocal crowd of about 1,000 sweated it out Thursday for single-payer health care. The rally was organized by Healthcare NOW to celebrate the 44th birthday of Medicare, the federally administered system of health insurance for the elderly.