for web rank and file-A Flawed Plan For Healthcare-Oregon AFL-CIO Still Backing Employment Based Healthcare

From: Wes Brain <brain@mind.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:46:21 -0700

Subject: A FLAWED PLAN FOR HEALTHCARE

EMPLOYMENT BASED HEALTHCARE INITIATIVES ARE A LOSER!!!

NO WAY!!

I WILL FIGHT YOU FROM DAY ONE. "LABOR 2006" THAT SUPPORTS INSURANCE COMPANIES IS DEAD. QUIT SELLING OUT.

OREGON LABOR IS WRONG IF IT WILL NOT KICK INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT AND SUPPORT A SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM. PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! QUIT SUPPORTING THE INSURANCE REAPERS!!

Tanya Wray is my Daughter. You may have heard about her story. SHE WAS A WORKER when she was diagnosed with leukemia over 5 years ago. A UNION MEMBER with the city of Medford (get out your maps, this is south of eugene). She has been the best cancer struggler i know. Today she continues to whip leukemia, yet with her daily struggle fighting graft vs. host disease, she is not yet able to GO BACK TO WORK!

YOUR EMPLOYMENT FLAWED SOLUTION EXCLUDES MY DAUGHTER, A WORKER BEFORE AND SOMEONE WHO WILL BE A WORKER AGAIN. AND THAT IS MY CRITERIA. IF IT DOESN'T SUPPORT MY DAUGHTER IT IS A LOSER.

I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN WITHIN MY POWER TO CHANGE THIS FLAWED PLAN OF ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON. TIM, YOU ARE A GREAT LEADER, BUT YOU REMAIN ABSOLUTELY WRONG ON THIS ONE. OREGON LABOR: I BECKON YOU, PLEASE RECONSIDER.

WAKE UP!!!

In total sincerity and for a better future for ALL of us,
Wes Brain
SEIU503, member-activist
new IWW member, too!

on 10/19/05 9:21 PM, Oregon AFL-CIO at afl-cio@qwest.net wrote:

October 19, 2005
Volume 7, #42

Convention 2005 Edition
1. Convention Delegates Approve A Fighting Agenda for a Fire Fighting President
2. Nesbitt: "Sizemore became the quotation marks around our accomplishments"
3. Labor 2006: Free Unions, Responsive Government, Affordable Health Care
4. Debate Shapes Positions On War Abroad and Working Families Party At Home
5. Sweeney Announces "Agreement in Principle" That Could Pave the Way for Return of Breakaway Unions in Oregon
6. Secretary-Treasurer Witt Will Give Up Full-Time Officer Position
7. Health Care Panel Focuses on the Working Uninsured
8. Delegate Honors Activists, Celebrates Victories, Help Hurricane Victims
9. Acuff: "Do Not Grow Weary in the Way of Doing Good"

Labor 2006: Free Unions, Responsive Government, Affordable Health Care

Delegates voted to fight restrictions on the freedom of unions to represent working families in the political arena and to oppose arbitrary limitations on funding for state and local government services both of which have been filed as potential ballot initiatives for November 2006 in Oregon by the local chapter of a national right-wing group that calls itself FreedomWorks.

Nesbitt noted that the sponsors of these initiatives "praise free societies but they oppose our freedom to come together in our unions, to make democratic decisions and to use our resources to make jobs better for working people -- because it threatens their power to dictate the terms of our employment, define the value of our work and determine the distribution of wealth in our economy." To read the resolution opposing restrictions on free unions, go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/fpzVWPM1lPbC/> .

"And that isn't all," said Nesbitt. "Once again, the same people who are attacking the freedom of our unions to make jobs better for working people are also attacking the ability of our government to make life better for its citizens." To read the resolution opposing arbitrary limitations on state and local services, go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/vdzVWPM10q51/> .

Nesbitt and Chamberlain both urged the delegates to make health care reform a top priority for the federation in 2006. The delegates responded with a resolution that commits the federation to research and make a decision by March 1, 2006 on whether to sponsor initiatives for the 2006 ballot to:

require employers to provide a minimum level of health care for their workers; or,

establish health care as a right and require the legislature to adopt a plan for health care coverage in ways that strengthens employment-based health care (as proposed in initiative petition #40); or,

expand the state's prescription drug purchasing pool; or,

create healthcare purchasing pools for education employers, state and local governments and private employers.
To read the convention resolution on health care reform, go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/v7zVWPM10q5q/> .

Debate Shapes Positions On War Abroad and Working Families Party At Home

After extensive debate in committee and further debate and amendments on the floor of the convention, delegates approved by substantial margins resolutions on "solidarity with the labor unions of Iraq" and the "formation of a party for working people in Oregon."

The resolution on Iraq was framed by two events earlier this year. One was the visit to Oregon last June by a delegation of Iraqi labor leaders, who told union leaders here, "The principal obstacle to peace, stability, and the reconstruction of Iraq is the (U.S.) occupation; the occupation is the problem, not the solution." The other was the adoption of a comprehensive resolution on the war in Iraq by delegates to the national AFL-CIO convention in July. That resolution <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/f7zVWPM1lPbV/> stated that our soldiers in Iraq "deserve leadership that fully values their courage and sacrifice" and "deserve a commitment from our country's leaders to bring them home rapidly."

Citing both of these experiences and responding to the poignant appeal of a delegate whose son recently returned from service in Iraq, the delegates approved a resolution that states in one of five parts: "Resolved that, because there can be no more rapid return than now, the Oregon National Guard be immediately returned to their homes and families and that the health care benefits they received while serving their country be continued upon their return home as long as they have no other source of equally comprehensive health care benefits."

The resolution includes a referral to the national AFL-CIO Executive Council for consideration and concurrence. To read the full resolution on "Solidarity with the Labor Union of Iraq," go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/vpzVWPM10q5a/> .

On another much-debated issue, the delegates directed the Oregon AFL-CIO to convene a coalition of all like-minded organizations and individuals to explore the formation of a Working Families Party in Oregon and the restoration of fusion voting. Fusion voting would allow a minor party to nominate a candidate who has been nominated by another party, have that nominee listed separately on both party's ballot lines and have all votes cast for such a candidate on both ballot lines count toward his/her final electoral tally. Such a voting system in New York State has enabled that state's Working Families Party <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/tdzVWPM10q5M/> to build a powerful presence in state elections and hold candidates accountable to working people on issues that directly affect their jobs and paychecks.

Delegates who lined up for and against the Working Families Party resolution did not dispute the need for union-backed candidates to focus on and be held accountable to working family issues, but they debated whether putting resources into a Working Families Party could divert efforts from getting the Democratic Party to pay more attention to such issues. Supporters of the Working Families Party argued that their approach could provide added leverage to force Democrats who might be wavering on issues like defense of the minimum wage to side with working people and create opportunities to encourage Republicans to adopt a working families agenda as well.

After extended debate, the delegates approved the resolution by a vote of 78 to 54. To read the resolution on the Working Families party, go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/51zVWPM10q5z/> .

Sweeney Announces "Agreement in Principle" That Could Pave the Way for Return of Breakaway Unions in Oregon

National AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told the Oregon AFL-CIO convention on Monday that he had reached "agreement in principle" with the officers of the Change to Win (CTW) unions that broke away from the AFL-CIO this summer on a proposed system of "Solidarity Charters," which will allow locals of the CTW unions to rejoin the AFL-CIO's state federations and central labor councils.

Sweeney announced that the terms of the tentative agreement will allow members of the CTW unions that re-affiliate with state federations and central labor councils to run for and hold office in those bodies. That leaves only the issue of payments to the national AFL-CIO to be resolved. The Solidarity Charters will require that the breakaway unions provide some level of funding to the national AFL-CIO to match the national federation's support for state and local programs an issue that appears now to be reduced to the amount and type of payments to be made, not whether such payments are necessary.

Given the agreement in principle, Sweeney announced that he has extended the deadline for resolution of this matter until Nov. 15.

Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt called Sweeney's announcement "very encouraging," and representatives of the CTW union in Oregon responded favorably to the news as well. Joe DiNicola, president of SEIU Local 503, told the Salem Statesman-Journal <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/t1zVWPM10q5A/> , "I'm glad to hear that. That means that we can continue to work together on issues that affect workers all over Oregon."

In response to Sweeney's announcement, the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board agreed to convene a special meeting at 2:00 PM on Nov. 15 in Portland in order to try to finalize re-affiliation agreements with SEIU, UFCW and the Carpenters union by that deadline. In the meantime, the Board agreed to hold open the Executive Board seats previously held by SEIU and UFCW leaders.

Nesbitt noted that the success of the Solidarity Charters in Oregon could restore the Oregon AFL-CIO's budget and staffing levels and provide the resources needed for a successful political program in 2006.

To read Sweeney's remarks to the delegates, go to <http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/5dzVWPM10q5S/> .