CWA’s 2009 health care campaign: ‘An extraordinary moment’ when there’s a chance to fix the system

Three District 7 coordinators, Jeanine Maury, local 7800, Seattle; Gail Love, local 7810, Olympia, WA; and Ken Saether, local 7906, Eugene, OR, simulate a presentation about health reform to a moderate Republican Senator, played by trainer Sarah Greenfield. The coordinators practiced meetings with officials as part of recent training in Baltimore.

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We have a rare opportunity in 2009 to provide affordable, quality health care for all, achieving a goal that has eluded American progressives for a century, CWA coordinators were told at a training session this month.

"This is an extraordinary moment in American history," Richard Kirsch, national coordinator for Health Care for America Now, told about 80 CWA rank-and-filers who attended the training in Baltimore. "We can make a change that will affect generations." Kirsch's group is a coalition of progressive groups seeking health reform; CWA is on its steering committee.

The training launches a new phase of CWA's Health Care Campaign. Last year, we built a political movement that helped elect a president and a Congress committed to fixing the health care system and passing the Employee Free Choice Act.  This year, we need to hold those elected officials accountable, and make sure that health reform includes our priorities for a better and fairer system.

The 2009 campaign will be built around 150 coordinators in 40 states. The coordinators will build 10-to-25-member legislative and political action teams in CWA locals in their home congressional districts. As Congress gears up to hold hearings and vote on bills by summer, activities for this spring include meetings with members of Congress, personal letters from CWA members to Congress about the Employee Free Choice Act and health care and worksite phone banks before key votes.

During the training, the coordinators learned facts and honed arguments on key points for CWA:

• All employers should be responsible for covering their workers - no corporate freeloaders.
• Pre-Medicare retirees need to be guaranteed affordable coverage.
• A public health insurance plan, similar to Medicare for people under 65, is required to provide competition for private insurance companies to reduce costs and expand consumer choice.
• The plan shouldn't raise money by taxing the health benefits of working families.

The Baltimore session was for coordinators from CWA Districts 1, 2 and 7.  Other regional training sessions will follow.