Unions To White House On Obamacare, Taft-Hartley Plans: 'You Made The Problem, You Fix It'

[PoliticAverse]

WASHINGTON -- Signaling a growing rift between some unions and the White House over the Affordable Care Act, the Nevada State AFL-CIO passed a stinging resolution Wednesday that criticized the administration for its handling of their concerns with the health care reform law. The resolution claims the law could end up "destroying" the unions' multi-employer health plans if the administration doesn't come up with a regulatory fix.

"Our union members and their families originally offered strong political and moral support for the promise of the Affordable Care Act because it would expand health care coverage for more Americans," the resolution read. But when it came to dealing with the unions' concerns, "the Administration has postured on proposals to address the problem, but no proposal to date will actually solve the problem. Our health plans only get worse."

Several unions -- UNITE HERE, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Teamsters -- have already voiced their worries that the law will undermine their multi-employer health care plans, known as Taft-Hartley plans. But Wednesday's resolution formalizes a major state labor federation's grievances just ahead of the AFL-CIO's national convention next month -- and just as the White House prepares for the law's rollout amid attacks from the right.

The critique also creates some political awkwardness not only for the Obama administration but for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). One of the unions taking the lead on the issue, the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union Local 226, a UNITE HERE affiliate, is the largest union in Nevada and a major political force in the state.

Read the rest at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/unions-obamacare-taft-hartley_n_3790548.html

[Travis_0004]

1. Maybe they should have read the law before they endorsed it.

Either way, there is no way a change to Obamacare is getting though congress.

[quadrature]

2. "you can keep the plan you have" ...

would seem to be the sticking point

[browbery]

3. New comments from UNITE HERE

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2545310

March 9, 2014

Unite Here warned that due to Obamacare's much higher costs for health insurance than what union workers currently pay, the result will be a pay cut of up to $5 an hour. "If employers follow the incentives in the law, they will push families onto the exchanges to buy coverage. This will force low-wage service industry employees to spend $2.00, $3.00 or even $5.00 an hour of their pay to buy similar coverage," said the union in a new report.

“Only in Washington could asking the bottom of the middle class to finance health care for the poorest families be seen as reducing inequality,” said the report from Unite Here. “Without smart fixes, the ACA threatens the middle class with higher premiums, loss of hours, and a shift to part-time work and less comprehensive coverage,” said the report, titled, “The Irony of Obamacare: Making Inequality Worse.”