The "Fair Share Health Care" campaign scored its first win Jan. 12 when the Democratic-run Maryland legislature successfully overrode GOP Gov. Robert Ehrlich's veto of its legislation.
The new law requires all Maryland employers with at least 10,000 workers to spend the equivalent of at least 8 percent of their payroll costs on providing health insurance for their workers -- or to contribute the difference between what they really spend and that figure to state Medicaid fund to cover the uninsured.
Labor is pushing similar legislation in 32 other states, including Minnesota, in a campaign unveiled in early January by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and supported by both his federation and some Change to Win unions.
Ehrlich vetoed the bill last year at the behest of Wal-Mart, the only firm it affects in Maryland. Three other Maryland entities, including Giant Food and Johns Hopkins University, also employ at least 10,000 workers, and all three exceeded the 8 percent threshold. Giant and its union, UFCW Local 400, joined other unions and Progressive Maryland in lobbying for the bill, while the Chamber of Commerce, Wal-Mart and The Washington Post opposed it.
The bill "will make corporations like Wal-Mart -- with $10 billion a year in profits -- pay a fair share of their employees' health care costs so that workers can afford to take their kids to the doctor when they need it, and companies that provide decent health care will not be at a competitive disadvantage," Sweeney said. "The Maryland victory shows the tide is turning because working people are not just fed up. They are ready to get active to set our country in a different direction, one state at a time."
"The state has drawn a new line in the sand for corporate scofflaws like Wal-Mart," added Teamsters President James Hoffa. He said Maryland "is the beginning of a nationwide effort...Stop Wal-Mart welfare, enact Fair Share Health Care." The override votes in Maryland were 30-17 in the Senate and 88-50 in the House.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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The “Fair Share Health Care” campaign scored its first win Jan. 12 when the Democratic-run Maryland legislature successfully overrode GOP Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s veto of its legislation.
The new law requires all Maryland employers with at least 10,000 workers to spend the equivalent of at least 8 percent of their payroll costs on providing health insurance for their workers — or to contribute the difference between what they really spend and that figure to state Medicaid fund to cover the uninsured.
Labor is pushing similar legislation in 32 other states, including Minnesota, in a campaign unveiled in early January by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and supported by both his federation and some Change to Win unions.
Ehrlich vetoed the bill last year at the behest of Wal-Mart, the only firm it affects in Maryland. Three other Maryland entities, including Giant Food and Johns Hopkins University, also employ at least 10,000 workers, and all three exceeded the 8 percent threshold. Giant and its union, UFCW Local 400, joined other unions and Progressive Maryland in lobbying for the bill, while the Chamber of Commerce, Wal-Mart and The Washington Post opposed it.
The bill “will make corporations like Wal-Mart — with $10 billion a year in profits — pay a fair share of their employees’ health care costs so that workers can afford to take their kids to the doctor when they need it, and companies that provide decent health care will not be at a competitive disadvantage,” Sweeney said. “The Maryland victory shows the tide is turning because working people are not just fed up. They are ready to get active to set our country in a different direction, one state at a time.”
“The state has drawn a new line in the sand for corporate scofflaws like Wal-Mart,” added Teamsters President James Hoffa. He said Maryland “is the beginning of a nationwide effort…Stop Wal-Mart welfare, enact Fair Share Health Care.” The override votes in Maryland were 30-17 in the Senate and 88-50 in the House.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.