"I don't cross picket lines. I never have." 

With these eight words, this past weekend Sen. John Kerry illustrated the stark difference between himself and George W. Bush on workers' rights, including workers' freedom to form and join unions. Sen. Kerry cancelled a speech at a major meeting of U.S. mayors rather than cross a picket line of firefighters and police who have been working in Boston without a contract -- some as long as two years.

Sen. Kerry is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act -- the most important piece of workers' rights legislation in decades -- which would help stop the employer harassment and intimidation workers face when forming a union. 

In contrast, President Bush hasn't taken a public stand on the legislation -- but his administration is actively working to undermine workers' unions and stack the National Labor Relations Board with anti-worker appointees who have indicated their intention to roll back workers' rights.

TAKE ACTION: Please take one minute right now to thank Sen. Kerry for his support of workers' rights -- and urge President Bush to change his mind about workers' freedom to choose a union by clicking on this link: www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/voiceatwork/efca_form.htm 

Find out more about where Sen. Kerry and President Bush stand by downloading a leaflet comparing their positions on workers' freedom to choose a union (400KB file):
www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/voiceatwork/upload/candidate_comparison_color.pdf 

Please share this leaflet and this e-mail with your friends, family and co-workers.

You won't be acting alone. This week, during the Voice@Work National Workplace Week of Action June 28-July 4, thousands of people will reclaim Independence Day and demand that we restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain collectively in America.

Today, workers have lost this right in America's workplaces. In fact, workers who attempt to form unions in the private sector are illegally fired in 25 percent of union election campaigns. The Employee Free Choice Act would remove many of the obstacles workers currently face.

Everyone suffers when workers lose the freedom to form unions. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to form a union through a majority verification process, allow employees to seek mediation and arbitration in securing a first contract and increase penalties against employers that violate the law.

The following news release was distributed Tuesday by Teamsters Local 556:

Hundreds of union members volunteered to knock on the doors of fellow union members in dozens of key Puget Sound precincts over the last few weekends. The effort is part of a new national union action to reach out to union members and their families about the upcoming fall elections.

The Washington State Labor Council initiated this "Labor-Neighbor" approach to campaigns in 2001 when a crucial House legislative race was on the ballot and the control of the House hung in the balance. The outcome of that first campaign was so successful in terms of union member participation and voting that the tactic has been a major part of the labor community’s political action effort ever since.

"It’s much more effective to have a one-on-one conversation with a union member than to just use the usual campaign tactics," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. "I have personally participated in many Labor Neighbor walks and always find our members interested and open to discussing issues and politics at the door."

This year’s initial Labor Neighbor effort is just the beginning of many weekends of doorbelling around the state throughout the next few months. "We expect to have hundreds of volunteers ringing the doorbells of our members around the state throughout the summer and through the fall up until election day," Bender said.

This earlier-than-usual effort is revealing that union members in key precincts are most concerned about health care and jobs. When they open their door to one of the volunteers, members are asked what their opinions are about the issues most important to them. So far, indications are that health care is becoming the most important issue. This is especially important because most union members enjoy better health care benefits than non-union workers. The heightened level of concern is a strong signal of real distress, Bender said.

Members also receive a flyer comparing the positions of John Kerry and George Bush on the issues. The Bush Administration’s support for outsourcing jobs is contrasted to Kerry’s proposal for job tax credits for companies that expand employment of Americans; the Bush Administration’s record on health care is compared to Kerry’s plan to expand health care access and lower costs. The AFL-CIO has endorsed Kerry for President and the union volunteers end their doorstep conversations with a reminder that their union believes that John Kerry’s administration would be better for working families.

MONDAY,  JUNE 28
Initiative 895 threatens health-care quality and choice

A small group of insurance companies and business people have launched an assault on quality and choice in health care in Washington. They have cloaked themselves in the language of "small business" and advertised their work as an effort to "control cost." But Washingtonians see this for what it is -- a deceptive effort to gut their health-care system of quality and choice in a misguided attempt to reduce cost. We should reject this divisive ruse and begin a real dialogue on health care in Washington state.

These insurers and business organizations have targeted state regulations that guarantee patients the right to certain fundamental benefits and choices in their health-care insurance plans. These laws, many of which are now almost a decade old, are the product of a careful and thoughtful legislative process in which each statute and regulation was evaluated for its effectiveness, its cost and its necessity.

Having failed in the Legislature last session, this small cabal of insurance and business interests has crafted a deceptive and dangerous initiative, I-895, which embodies their bankrupt health-policy ideas. No matter how their initiative fares, they will continue their assault next January in the next legislative session to gut our health-care system of quality and choice, all in the name of profits.

This assault would erode critical legislation mandating benefits and choice Washingtonians have come to expect as core services from their health-care providers. In particular, this assault will target women, endangering three critical benefits: prenatal screening, coverage for adopted children, and the right to breast cancer screening and treatment.

First, under current law, health insurance plans that provide benefits for pregnancy and childbirth must also provide coverage for prenatal diagnosis of congenital disorders of the fetus. This small group of insurance and business interests would end that protection by eroding the law that ensures that these screening procedures are covered in every plan.

Second, current law ensures that health-insurance companies cover adopted children no differently than other children. If this group of insurance companies and businesses is successful, it could gut the regulations that protect this benefit. In other words, if a woman has two children, one adopted and one biological, she could wake up one day to find that her biological child can see a doctor, but her adopted one can't.

Finally, and maybe most disturbingly, the women of Washington may lose the right to preventative breast cancer screening and critical treatments should they be diagnosed with this deadly disease. Under current law, any health plan that covers women's care must cover preventative screening, mastectomy, lumpectomy and reconstructive surgery. In their misguided effort to control cost, these companies would gut the laws and regulations that safeguard a woman's right to both the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Recent studies have shown that Washington has the highest prevalence of breast cancer of any state in the United States. We should be ensuring more coverage and treatment, not allowing insurance companies to provide less.

The special interests funding this assault haven't limited themselves to the erosion of basic benefits; they have targeted choice in health care as well. They want to erode and destroy regulations ensuring that patients have the right to see the health-care provider of their choice. Patients suffering from headaches would no longer be able to choose the provider they think best suits their needs, whether that is a doctor, a nurse practitioner, a chiropractor, a naturopath or a massage therapist. Instead, the insurance company will get to decide exactly whom that patient gets to see.

Research shows that the people of Washington have come to expect the basic services, benefits and choices that these business and insurance interests want to take away. A recent survey found that 70 percent of Washingtonians said it was "very important" to preserve their right to see the provider of their choice. When asked what factors are really driving up health-care cost, 71 percent said "insurance companies wanting to increase profits" was a major factor. Of all the factors that were tested, "state law requiring insurance companies to include too many benefits" was seen as the least important factor.

What kind of health-care system do we want in Washington? Do we believe, as these insurance and business interests argue, that the right response to rising cost is to gut our health-care system of its most basic protections? Of course not. The assault on quality and choice launched by these insurance companies and business interests amounts to nothing more than a divisive distraction. It is long past time that we rejected this ruse and began a real conversation focused on the real problems we face.

JOANNA BOATMAN, RN, is president of Washington State Nurses Association. DIANE SOSNE, RN, is president of Service Employees International Union District 1199NW.

MONDAY,  JUNE 28
Spending July 4th in Ocean Shores? Walk the line with strikers