In the ongoing debate over U.S. health care, so many statistics are reported in the media, it can be tough sometimes to see the forest for the trees.
But if the general public and our representatives remember only one figure, here’s a revealing one: 80,000. That’s the approximate number of union members across the country who were on strike late last month—on strike mainly because of health care issues. It’s also a number that speaks volumes about how serious and widespread America’s health care crisis has become.
The average person who’s never been in a union probably can’t appreciate just how serious and difficult it is for workers to go on strike. Make no mistake, it is an absolute last resort—a powerful and occasionally needed tool, but also one that’s very rarely used. Most union members go through their whole careers without a strike. Usually, it’s an agonizing decision, and it comes with no guarantee of success.
Without question, the right to withhold one’s labor is a basic human right that should exist all over the world. Equally without question, it’s not something that workers do on a whim.
That’s why the respective job actions involving our brothers and sisters from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union drive home the desperation being felt by patients all across the nation. The striking (and locked out) union members and their families have reached the point where the sacrifices and uncertainty of hitting the bricks appear less painful than accepting the unfair burden of costlier or reduced health benefits.
In many cases, they previously have given up wage increases to maintain their benefits. Now, those benefits are threatened anyway.
So, in essence the workers have said, “Enough!”
And who can blame them? Who in this country hasn’t been affected by health care costs that are out of control? Who isn’t concerned about getting or maintaining affordable, decent coverage?
Just last month, several new studies shed even more light on this situation. Amid the sea of statistics, a few jumped out. If you’ve followed this issue, you probably know that almost 44 million Americans have no health insurance. What may come as a surprise is that the average yearly out-of-pocket costs for employees of large companies have more than doubled during the past five years. The average employer contribution has dropped to 70 percent from 75 during that same period.
In just the past three years, the average amount that workers pay toward their premiums for family coverage increased by almost 50 percent. During that same time, employees’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs jumped by as much as 71 percent.
One figure that particularly surprised me is that only about four percent of large employers still pay 100 percent of the premiums for family coverage. That’s a giant drop from what workers enjoyed a decade ago.
So that I don’t fall into that forest-for-the-trees trap, I’ll repeat the most revealing statistic: 80,000. That’s 80,000 union members who are taking a stand for every worker, whether or not they belong to a union. It’s also 80,000 families who are on those picket lines — spouses, children, parents.
And it’s 80,000 people who are experiencing the fastest-growing trend in contract negotiations. In many contract talks, health care has become the number one issue, ahead of wages and everything else. That’s the case for the UFCW and ATU workers, as it was for the United Auto Workers members who last month approved a contract in which health benefits played a dominant role. The same was true for union workers at General Electric who went on strike earlier this year because of health care issues.
I believe it’s no exaggeration to say that health care very well may be the top issue in next year’s national elections. At the very least, it’ll be up there with the war on terrorism, the overall economy and employment.
Ten years ago, the need for viable and affordable health care was front-page news, inspiring a long, heated debate. National leaders put a bandage on this problem and hoped it would go away. Today, the bandage has fallen off. We no longer have a scab, but an infected wound. Today, America needs more than a bandage.
Let’s hope that the national debate over health care that takes place between now and the elections provides not a bandage, but real treatment and cures for all Americans. The courageous actions of our brothers and sisters who are on strike may be the wake-up call that starts righting the ship.
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