by Seth Michaels, Aug 1, 2008
With fewer than a hundred days to go before the election, union members are taking action around the country, including Ohio and New Hampshire, to demand those running for public office provide real solutions to address the economy, health care and more.
Around Ohio, union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, focused on health care and taxes as they confronted Sen. John McCain and President Bush, who were both visiting the critical swing state in recent days.
Working America and unions led protests around the crucial issue of health care across the state. McCain’s health care proposal could be catastrophic for our already-shaky health care system. His plan would raise taxes on workers and could lead millions to get pushed out of their existing plans. Union and Working America members let McCain and members of Congress know that they want a health care policy that provides affordable, high-quality health care to everyone.
In Cincinnati and Columbus, activists delivered thousands of health care petitions to Rep. Steve Chabot (R) and Sen. George Voinovich (R). Both Chabot and Voinovich have repeatedly voted against health care for Ohioans, and both staked out extreme positions and voted against children’s health care. Doug Sizemore, executive secretary-treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, and Theotis James, executive vice president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, lent their voices and support to these successful actions.
On Tuesday, more than 100 union members and Working America members turned out in Euclid, Ohio, to protest an appearance by Bush. Union members and Working America members from Cleveland, Canton and Youngstown came out for the protest, lining the streets to confront Bush’s motorcade. The action centered on job loss in Ohio, connecting the job drain with Bush-McCain trade policies and the failure to support new green energy jobs. Protestors also sought relief from high gas prices that reward workers, not Big Oil.
Harriet Applegate, executive secretary of the North Shore Federation of Labor, came out to support the action.
If you look around here, you see a wasteland. Northeast Ohio has been incredibly hard hit by the Bush administration.
McCain also faced union members during a campaign stop in Rochester, N.H., reports Jess Clark, Labor 2008 state coordinator for New Hampshire. Clark says members of AFT, APWU, NATCA, OPEIU, SMWIA and TWU were present to protest McCain’s speech.
Here’s what union members in New Hampshire had to say about McCain’s visit:
Chrissy Long, OPEIU:
John McCain’s policies make the wealthy wealthier and maintain the glass ceiling for the middle class.
Robert Geary, SMWIA:
It has simply become too costly to live. It is time for change.
Heidi Mitchell, TWU:
By electing John McCain, we are continuing the failed policy of the Bush administration. Working families deserve better.
McCain is offering more of the same policies that working families have suffered under for nearly a decade, and union members are working hard to make sure the next administration offers real change that will turn around America and make the economy work again.
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