AFL-CIO current issues and positions on contemporary topics

¶ … Union Issues of Interest

At a time when American organized labor unions are declining in their political and cultural influence, the AFL-CIO, the nation's most famous union, continues to act as an advocate for workers in areas of topical concern, such as expanding healthcare to all Americans, and fighting against gender and racial discrimination inflicted upon workers all over the world.

Although the union has in the past won comprehensive health care coverage for many of its members during individual negotiations, in tribute to its philosophy to stand proud for all workers' rights, the union is currently actively lobbying the U.S. congress for national health care coverage for all Americans. The AFL-CIO website contains a link to a petition that everyone surfing the website can sign, union members and non-members alike. The goal of the petition on the section of the website entitled "Take Action: Join the Fight for Health Care" is not simply to ensure that union members have comprehensive and inexpensive health care, but is designed "to win secure, high-quality health care for all. We are mobilizing a 1 million-member army of health care activists to keep comprehensive health care reform at the top of the political agenda in 2008 -- and to ensure that the real work of fixing the health care system is actually done after the elections," regardless of whatever party wins or loses the next Presidential election.

The union notes that opponents of reform have used and will continue to use fear-mongering tactics to oppose universal care it defines the AFL-CIO campaign as one of "education, outreach and mobilization," although it does not specify what final plan is desired. On one hand, the AFL-CIO is correct that no employer can afford to comprehensively cover its workers in the future if the government does not assume more of the nation's burden of heath care costs. Merely asking private industry to 'pick up the slack' will result in rationed and reduced care. The AFL-CIO notes that the government assuming a greater burden of health care costs will ultimately lower employer costs for health care. But it also asks employers to pay their "fair share," along with government. The union's position seems both realistic and fair-minded in its targeting of healthcare as the crucial problem facing workers. Its call for workers to sign an Internet petition is a way of involving all working people, and making everyone feel involved in the union lobbying effort.

The Internet campaign also is likely to generate positive union publicity, as health care is an issues many workers feel strongly about, whether or not they are members of a labor union. However, the problem is that the AFL-CIO does not suggest a specific plan to remedy the healthcare crisis, or even give some specific suggestions as to what the next president's plan should comprise. There is some implication that national coverage is desired, but if businesses are called to pay their fair share, this suggests that some private enterprise is still needed, in the view of the union. Thus, while it is a 'feel good' move to sign a petition, one might ask if it is really worthwhile to ask people to simply state that they support better healthcare, without specifying what plan the union wants the government to adopt.

However, the statistics listed on the AFL-CIO website about "Health Care Facts" are sobering. 47 million people, including 8.7 million children have no health coverage at all. Health care premiums were $1,320 on average in 2001, but skyrocketed to $3,266 in 2007. According to the graphic "Exploding Health Care Costs are Devastating Working Families," every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for a bankruptcy that is related to medical care, and other than the pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, even employers are being "crippled" by health care costs. This means lower wages for workers, as employers pass the increased expense onto workers, and hire fewer workers because of the cost of healthcare. Ultimately it is heartening to read that the AFL-CIO is mobilizing behind the move to put healthcare at the top of the national agenda, even if it has not devised the perfect solution to insure that everyone has affordable and adequate care.

Another issue the union is mobilized about is the issue of gender equality, on an international as well as a national level. More than 1.2 billion women or 40% of total women world-wide earn less money than their male counterparts (Parks 2008). Women are also more likely to be unemployed, poor and often face violence and harassment in the workplace. American women still earn 88 cents for every dollar a man is paid for the same type of employment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This wage gap costs the average full-time U.S. woman worker between $700,000 and $2 million over the course of her work life. African-American women earn only 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar that men earn for the same type of work (Parks 2008).