Dems, Labor Groups Team To Reject Trade Deals

By Lisa Kellman

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) called for “Main street not Wall street” at an AFL-CIO rally today to oppose three new free trade agreements (FTAs) Congress is set to vote on.

Union members and leaders joined federal lawmakers to criticize the trio of agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama sent by the Obama administration yesterday to Congress.

Tom Buffenbarger, President of IAM, argued that 159,000 Americans will lose their jobs to South Korea and that all three countries lacked proper human rights and labor provisions.

Former President George W Bush negotiated these agreements, which were initially opposed by President Obama. Despite changes made to the agreements, Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) claimed that they mirror the NAFTA accord reached years ago, which he called dangerous.

Congress may believe that the agreements will help businesses by “export(ing) more products overseas, but the only thing that they are going to be exporting is American jobs,” Michaud said.

While free trade agreements like NAFTA have been created for better relations with other nations and with the promise of more American jobs, better business projections and higher standards of living, “NAFTA failed style agreements” Buffenbarger said “cost our nation millions of jobs.” 

Buffenbarger and Michaud were joined by United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, and Democrats Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Jan Schakowky (D-Ill.) who all called for attendees to talk to their representatives about voting no on the free trade agreements.

“Congress is run by Wall Street, K Street, and by money but there is one thing that congress pays attention to and that is the voters in their district,” said Michaud.

Labor Organization Takes Health Care Reform Message On The Road

From Families USA parking a slogan covered ambulance on Capitol Hill to activists passing out pacifiers in the halls of the Senate office buildings, the health care reform debate has been responsible for a great deal of political theater inside the Beltway. However, a recent project from a leading labor organization has brought a colorful portrayal of the reform message beyond the D.C. setting.

The “Highway to Health Care Tour”, sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), features a large RV being sent to over a dozen cities in an attempt to rally support for health care reform.

“We chose a kind of fun rock and roll motif,” said AFSCME Legislative Specialist Blaine Rummel, describing the RV’s florid paint job. “I think this stands in sharp contrast to what opponents of reform have been doing in the past few weeks with their negativity and mob mentality.”

Rummel, who went on the tour, said that the highlight of the three week trip was encountering supportive crowds, which Rummel claims numbered in the hundreds in some cities.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney noted in a speech Monday during the tour’s final stop in D.C. that the project was intended to be a rebuttal of the anti-tax tea parties being put on by conservatives across the country.

“[The tour] spearheaded our huge mobilization over the past month that called on Congress to act now on health reform and countered the tea baggers fronting for the insurance companies,” Sweeney said.

Poor quality of health care is “deadly”

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on "Rising Costs, Low Quality in Health Care: The Necessity for Reform" where Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said the health care system needs to be reformed so all Americans have access to affordable and high quality health care.  Elizabeth McGlynn, Ph.D, associate director of RAND Health and distinguished chair in health quality, said that she has found that on average, "American adults received just 55 percent of recommended care for the leading causes of death and disability."  She also said that "We spend nearly two trillion dollars annually on health care and we get it right about half the time" and that "poor quality is deadly."  

Arlene Hold Baker, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, said the AFL-CIO launched an online survey "that captured working families' concerns about health care."  She said 96 percent of respondents are "somewhat or very concerned about affording coverage in the next few years."  She added that "annual premium costs for family coverage have almost doubled between 2000 and 2007" and that "as the number of uninsured grows, so too does the cost-shifting that occurs in our fragmented system." 

As for ideas on reforming the system, Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, said cost-containment and quality-improvement are vital to get better value for the amount of money spent on health care. He also said that to increase efficiency, services with little or no value should be forgone.  McGlynn encouraged improving quality whether or not it saves money, since it's "the right thing to do." 

Felicia Fields, group vice president of human resources and corporate services at the Ford Motor Company, said that "a better approach is to improve health care coverage affordability by evaluating the key cost drivers of health care and how to address them."  Some of the programs she suggested included implementing generic prescription drug substitution to control the rate of prescription drug costs, removing legislative and regulatory barriers on wellness programs, and strong federal leadership for "establishing one set of standards for health care quality and one set of basic guidelines for improving the population's health status."