UE’s Eastern Region has endorsed the NY Health Act, legislation to provide health care to every New Yorker through a public, Medicare-for-All style system. The legislation is “everything we’ve been asking for,” Region President George Waksmunski told the UE NEWS. “No co-pays, deductibles, premiums, network restrictions or out-of-pocket maxes, and you won't lose your house or your life savings if you have to go into a nursing home.”
CalCare — a bill that would create a universal, Medicare for All system for the state of California — passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week. This is the second major hurdle for AB 1400, and now the bill officially moves to the full Assembly floor for a vote! RSVP now to join a Statewide Virtual Rally this Monday, January 24, at 6pm PT to go over what’s next and get organized before the full Assembly vote.
This weekend, our nation will celebrate the life and achievements of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of his most important achievements — voting rights for all people — is being undermined by voter suppression, gerrymandering, and Supreme Court decisions.
Dr. King’s family, along with faith leaders, civil rights leaders, labor leaders, and voting rights advocates across the country, have issued a call to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this year with ACTION, by demanding passage of voting rights legislation and access to the ballot box.
Our country’s democracy is facing the greatest threat in over half a century, as voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the flood of dark money in politics make it increasingly difficult for working people to have a voice in our government. If Democrats in Congress do not act swiftly and firmly by immediately passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — and if President Biden does not provide bold leadership to this effort — the ability of working people to fend off corporate attacks in the political arena will be severely damaged for generations to come.
A scheme first proposed by the Trump Administration and now sanctioned by the Biden Administration could hand Medicare straight to Wall Street investors.
Sign the petition to demand that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) immediately stop this program.
UE stands in solidarity with the progressive members of Congress who are refusing to buckle under to demands from corporate Democrats to water down the budget reconciliation bill. Working people need the federal government to invest in all aspects of our infrastructure — in child care, paid leave, health care, climate action, affordable housing, and education, as well as roads and bridges.
We have a real opportunity in the coming weeks to win serious improvements and expansion of Medicare, and to do it in a way that will help us win Medicare for All in the long term.
Call your Senators and Representatives at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to support Medicare expansion! Or use National Nurses United’s dialer system (links in article).
From July 17-25, labor and allied organizations held a national Week of Action to demand that the Senate pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, long overdue labor-law reform that would make it easier for workers to join unions and bargain with their employers for fair wages and working conditions. Bosses are working overtime to prevent this legislation from becoming law — working people need to get busy and make our voices heard. Call your senators today at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they co-sponsor this important piece of legislation!
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued its first major decision of the year on workers’ rights — and the results were not good for workers. Bolstered by Trump’s three appointments, all of whom embrace a pro-corporate, right-wing ideology, a 6-3 majority ruled that a California law which protects farmworkers’ rights to talk to union organizers constitutes a “taking” of property. The decision “represents a dramatic rightward shift in the Court’s takings jurisprudence, one that calls into question a whole host of government regulations designed to protect workers and the public.”
April 30 marked the end of the first 100 days of the Biden administration. The phrase “first 100 days” was coined by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, in a radio address in which he assessed his administration’s first actions to tackle the Great Depression and establish the New Deal. The purpose of this report card is not to congratulate or condemn the president, but to celebrate those areas in which aggressive struggle by the working class has won victories and highlight the areas in which we must redouble our efforts.