Employee Free Choice Would Mean Millions More Get Health Insurance

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/01/employee-free-choice-would-mean-millions-more-get-health-insurance/

Employee Free Choice Would Mean Millions More Get Health Insurance

by James Parks, May 1, 2007

If the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, 3.5 million more people could receive health insurance and 2.7 million more could gain pension benefits, according to a report released yesterday by the Campaign for America’s Future.



The U.S. House passed the Employee Free Choice Act on March 1. The bill, S. 1041, is now in the Senate. Under the bill, an employer would have to recognize the workers’ choice of a union if a majority signs union authorization cards (also known as majority sign-up). Currently, employers can reject the workers’ cards and demand a National Labor Relations Board election in which the bosses hold all the cards.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who released the report along with co-author Eric Lotke, said:

More than 47 million Americans lack health insurance, and even those with coverage find that if often covers less and less. This should not be happening in America. By passing the Employee Free Choice Act and giving workers a seat at the table, we can start to reverse these negative trends. Union participation in the workplace means everybody wins. When employees have a voice—when they can ask for better wages and benefits and make suggestions about how to do things better—employers benefit, too.

Building on the work of economist Susan Johnson, who found majority sign-up increases union membership, authors Alex Carter and Lotke estimate an additional 10 percent of workers would join a union after the Employee Free Choice Act is enacted. That would dramatically increase the number of workers likely to get access to employee-paid health insurance and retirement benefits. Union workers are 31 percent more likely to have health insurance and 33 percent more likely to have pensions.

FULL story at link.