THIS TIME ON CODE WACK!
Labor unions have spent decades fighting to win good health benefits for their members. And by and large, they have succeeded. The ‘union advantage’ has been documented. Compared to non-union workers, union workers are more likely to have health insurance coverage… more likely to have a regular care provider…, and to have visited office-based providers 31% more often.
So why would union members want to give up their hard-won ‘union advantage’ for a completely different system? What might happen if organized labor began fighting not just for better health benefits for their union members, but for everyone? Could organized labor help lead America to a system where healthcare isn’t tied to a job at all?
To discuss this and more, we welcome back Mark Dudzic, a longtime union organizer and labor activist. He’s a former president of Local 8-149 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, now part of the Steelworkers, as well as the OCAW District 8 Council, and a former national organizer of the Labor Party.
In 2009, he co-founded the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare and currently serves as its chair. This is the second episode in a two-part series.
Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!
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SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
In 2009, you led an effort to get the AFL-CIO to support Medicare for All as policy. How did you do that, and why is it so important to the movement?
Dudzic: We organized a grassroots effort to have central labor councils and the state federations pass resolutions supporting single-payer healthcare.
We organized a series of events at the convention. The nurses’ union [CNA] was able to bring Michael Moore in. Everybody wanted to be with Michael Moore. So we built this whole grassroots activity that resulted in a resolution that finally put the labor movement back on the right track in terms of its goals for healthcare reform.
Labor opposition will provide a mask for those politicians who really don’t wanna support it, who are taking money from, you know, the medical industrial complex.
The organizing capacity and the resources and the political know-how that labor brings to the table is, I think, unprecedented with the other potential social movement allies. They just bring so much, so much more to the table.
Helpful Links
The Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare
Resolution 6: Making Health Care For All a Reality, AFL-CIO
Michael Moore on labor unions and Medicare For All, Michael Moore (Video)
How Medicare for All Would Affect Union Health Plans, People’s Policy Project
Making the case for single payer: When you’ve got yours, why fight for everyone else?, Code WACK! Podcast Episode 171, with Ada Briceño, Unite Here Local 11
Guest Biography: Mark Dudzic
In honor of Labor Day, we’re looking at the powerful connection between work and healthcare in America, and what it means for workers when their health coverage depends on their jobs.
Mark Dudzic is a longtime union organizer and labor activist. He served as president of Local 8-149 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (now part of the Steelworkers) and as president of the OCAW District 8 Council.
He is the former national organizer of the Labor Party.
In 2009, he co-founded the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare and currently serves as its chair.
Host Biography: Brenda Gazzar
Brenda Gazzar, the host and co-producer of Code WACK!, has produced over 300 weekly podcast episodes, with downloads topping 400,000. A skilled interviewer and storyteller, Brenda brings nuance, curiosity, and clarity to every conversation.
Brenda has worked as a multilingual and award-winning reporter with more than two decades of experience in California and the Middle East.
Her work has been published by Reuters, Ms. Magazine, USA Today, Los Angeles Daily News, the Orange County Register, The Wrap, The Jerusalem Post, Cairo Times, and numerous other publications. She speaks Spanish, Hebrew, and a moderate level of Arabic and is the recipient of national, state, and regional awards.
Brenda also enjoys being a life coach, helping people align with their purpose so they feel fulfilled while achieving their boldest dreams.
Brenda’s work is grounded in a belief that systemic change and personal growth go hand in hand, and she’s here for both.
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Keywords:
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