Newsletter: AFSCME WomENews

May 2005

Congress cuts health care

Once again, working families lose and wealthy Americans win. Congress recently approved a $2.6 trillion budget that included deep cuts to programs for working families and more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Medicaid suffered a $10 billion cut — hampering its ability to provide healthcare to millions of low-income working families. Medicaid covers 53 million people and provides long-term health care coverage for more Americans that any other program. With the cost of basic health insurance skyrocketing, this budget reflects the wrong priorities for our country.

Why should women be concerned? Because women are twice as likely to qualify for Medicaid than men. Women are more likely to work in lower paying jobs and to lack employer-sponsored insurance. Even when employers offer a health insurance program, many women are not able to afford the coverage. This means that children lose too. Medicaid provides health care for children when their parents cannot. In 2000, children were 49% of all Medicaid recipients.

Congress also created a commission to decide on specific cuts to the Medicaid program. The cuts could mean increased co-payments, cuts to benefits, and reductions in pharmacy payments. Committee recommendations are expected by September of this year.

It is critical that we act now to protect benefits for working families. Tell your Representatives and Senators that Medicaid cuts will hurt working women and working families. Demand that they do not limit access to health care or eliminate vital services for women. Contact your legislators.

Failing working women...again!

On April 18th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sent the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its plan to eliminate the "Women Worker Series" from its Current Employment Statistics survey. Without the data BLS collects, it will be nearly impossible to accurately gauge the state of working women in the United States.

The CES survey is a monthly nationwide survey of payroll records. At issue is a plan to modify the survey and remove questions about the number of women employed at firms. The data from this survey provides critical information on women's employment, such as where women are gaining or losing jobs. Many women's and civil rights groups have protested the changes, including more than 60 members of the House of Representatives and 30 senators who sent letters urging BLS to reconsider.

The elimination of the "Women Worker Series" demonstrates the current Administration's continued undervaluing of key research on women. Last year, two reports documented the attack on and neglect of research and government programs for women. The National Council for Research on Women released MISSING: Information about Women's Lives, which found four key areas where critical government information has gone missing. The National Women's Law Center's report, Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward, assessed the actions and positions the Administration has taken since 2001 and found a stunning threat to women's progress.

Fighting for the right to organize

Workers know how difficult it is to form a union in the face of employer opposition. While laws exist to protect these rights, employers continue to harass and dismiss workers trying to organize. Research shows that some 57 million working people say they would join a union if they were given the opportunity. The Employee Free Choice Act can do just that.

On April 19, the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) was reintroduced into Congress by a bi-partisan coalition. The act strengthens workers' rights to unionize by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also provides for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorizes stronger penalties for employers in violation with unionization rights.

Working women know that joining a union makes a real economic difference for women and their families. Union women earn 34 percent more than non-union women and have better health care and pensions. Union women also win when it comes to having the power to fight pay inequity and discrimination of all kinds.

Already, more than 36 senators and 153 representatives are offering their support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Your support is needed too! Tell your lawmakers why women workers deserve the freedom to choose a union and demand that they support the Employee Free Choice Act.  For more information about the Employee Free Choice Act, check out American Rights at Work.

Stop the nuclear option

Republican Senate leaders are trying to change Senate rules and erase democratic procedures. The rules that govern the Senate have historically protected minority party interests by allowing the use of the filibuster to block radical judicial nominees. Senate Republicans are proposing to change the rules and eliminate this use of the filibuster. The move is so severe that it has become known as the "nuclear option."

Such a move would have long-lasting impact on women's rights. Federal judges are appointed for life, and hold great power over civil rights and crucial workplace rights and protections, such as the right to form a union. This makes each appointment critical for working families. Without the use of the filibuster, the current and future Senate will not be able to carry out their constitutional duty to "advise and consent" on judicial nominations. Any majority party will be able to steamroll over the minority party and ignore the interests of millions of working men and women. By ending the filibuster, Senate Republicans are disregarding the rights of all Americans.

Take action: Stop the nuclear option and preserve the right to challenge extremist judges.

For more information check out the AFL-CIO website.

AFSCME women leaders plan for the future

In April, AFSCME's National Women's Advisory Committee (NWAC) met in Washington D.C. to discuss the challenges facing women in the labor movement and create strategies for building a stronger union. The NWAC is a group of AFSCME women leaders appointed by President McEntee to advise the Women's Department about issues affecting AFSCME women.

Twenty-one committee members attended the meeting, representing locals and councils across the country. During the meeting, committee members identified five key trends impacting AFSCME women and working women including member apathy, privatization, decline of the labor movement, union busting, and the health care crisis. Committee members developed strategies and activities to fight back against these trends, and will take this information back to their councils and locals.

We urge you to contact the committee member in your area and get involved! For more information about the committee, please contact Chairperson Mary Goulding at mgouldi1@greenbay.k12.wi.us

Member of the National Women's Advisory Committee are: Chairperson Mary Goulding; Green Bay, WI; Barbara Armstead, Richmond, IN; Kate Baker, Gresham, OR; Mary Bartolotta, Buffalo, NY; Barbara Biniecki, West Seneca, NY; Barbara Dauble, Rochester Hills, MI; Beth Davis-Fleming, Marshalltown, IA; Ann Ebesuno, Hilo, HI; Jane Gill, Altoona, PA; Annette Gonzalez, Santurce, PR; Padi Howard, Woolwich, ME; Hettie Hume, Fairbanks, AK; Cynthia Johnson, Columbus, OH; Judy Johnson, Bellingham, WA; Arthur "Pat" Kelly, Baltimore, MD; Kandy Kraig, Spokane, WA; Roberta Marien, Norwich, CT; Fran McDonald, Philadelphia, PA; Luella McQueen, Jacksonville, FL; Nancy Pierro-Gray, Phoenix, AZ; Walthene Primus, New York, NY; Barbara Reeves, Albany, NY; Jacqueline Stanford, New York, NY; Kathy Stewart, Mt. Gilead, OH; Nancy Swindell, Acampo, CA; Permelia Toney-Boss, Rahway, NJ; Myra Vines, Pomona, CA; Caryl Wadley-Foy, Bradley, IL; Sandra Wheeler, Lima, OH; Lora Williams, Randalstown, MD

WomENews is produced by the Women's Rights Department and written by Quinci Moody and Amy Vance.

 

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