State AFL-CIO Convention highlights Health Care Reform

By Scott Godshaw

The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Convention was held on September 9-12. I was one of eight delegates that were elected to attend. There were many excellent speakers and a full agenda was on the docket but I will focus on one of the key issues.

First of all and probably the most important issue dealt with was health care. Health care costs are skyrocketing and somehow, someway, need to be controlled. Throughout the state, health issues and the cost of health issues and the cost of health insurance have been the core issue of most bargaining conflicts the past several years.

David Newby, President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, appointed a health care task force last year. The committee developed a path breaking proposal to fix the health care system in Wisconsin that would cut costs, increase access and improve quality.

While Senator Ted Kennedy had initially been invited to address the convention but could not attend, Gary Shea, Head of Government Affairs for the National AFL-CIO and a respected authority on health care, spoke in his place.

Shea stated, “The National AFL-CIO will be pulling unions together to roll out a national campaign with the principles of universal, affordable health care next year.”

In the coming months the AFL-CIO plans to line up 30-40 State Feds to introduce plans in their legislatures for universal, comprehensive health care proposals, with Wisconsin’s plan as the lead pilot proposal.

The most interesting development that I felt regarding this issue was a vast array of other speakers from different sides of the table pretty much behind this reform.

Those speakers included Dean Smith, Human Re-source Vice-President from Waukesha Engine; Dick Marsek, a staunch self-proclaimed Republican, owner of Maintenance Services of West Allis; Elizabeth Sutton, a certified nursing assistant and a member of SEIU Local 150 and Dr. Rick Boxer, a well-known Milwaukee urologist and proponent for health care reform. Also, Wisconsin Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin, in a videotaped message, stated, “Health care issues are what brought me to public services in the first place.”