Unions Rally for Healthcare, Now!

APWU members from as far away as Philadelphia and Florida joined thousands of other union members and healthcare advocates at a rally June 25 to demand that Congress pass legislation that provides quality care for all.

Many members of Congress joined the union-led rally on Capitol Hill to voice support for solving the nation’s healthcare crisis, which leaves millions of families uninsured or under-insured. Participants called for fundamental change in the nation’s healthcare system, including a public health insurance option.

Speakers included members of Congress, union leaders, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, M.D. Actress Edie Falco introduced nurses, business owners, workers and parents, all of whom described how the system is failing working families across the country. Their message was clear: We demand affordable, high-quality healthcare for all — and we won’t wait any longer.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker said the rally shows the momentum and enthusiasm behind healthcare reform:

“We are closer than ever to getting the reform we need. We cannot let the voices of opposition and the naysayers stifle the will of the people in order to maintain a system that only benefits private corporations. We must use this momentum to finally create a system that ends the delays and denials, and provides healthcare for everyone.”

Many rally participants spent the afternoon lobbying members of Congress for real healthcare reform. The rally-and-lobby day was sponsored by Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO. In addition to the strong turnout of union members and community organizers, groups including Working America and Democracy for America brought tens of thousands of signatures collected from people across the country who say that working families have waited long enough for healthcare reform.