Health care reform has been on the front burner this summer, but as of this writing Congress is not yet ready to put the final touches on this important legislation. While we in TWU support the need for health care reform, it’s important that it be done right. We want it to be a plus for America’s workers, not a step backward.


As lawmakers continue to struggle to find a way to pay for health reform that could cost $1 trillion or more over the next decade, it seems they are trying to open the door a little wider to an approach that President Obama soundly rejected when John McCain proposed it during last year’s presidential campaign: taxing the health benefits that employers provide their workers. The labor movement remains firmly opposed to taxing these vital benefits. 


During the campaign, President Obama had been scathing in his criticism of McCain’s plan. One of his ads noted that the GOP nominee advocated “taxing health benefits for the first time ever...taxing health care instead of fixing it. We can’t afford John McCain.” 


The President says he still wouldn’t go as far as McCain proposed and completely eliminate the current exclusion on taxation of employer-provided health benefits. (McCain would have offset that with a tax credit of up to $5,000.) But many of Obama’s aides and some Congressional leaders have implied that he would consider the idea. We can’t let the Congress turn against us in this fight. We need to let our representatives know that we will not just let this happen. 


When they asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he famously replied: “That’s where the money is.” And that’s the major reason lawmakers are considering taxing these benefits for the first time: a lot of money is involved. Depending on how it is structured, a tax on the most expensive benefits could bring in hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated. But it would be a politically treacherous move that would not affect only the wealthy, but dues paying TWU members as well. Many of those generous health plans are also part of TWU contracts — and in many cases were negotiated in lieu of higher wages. 


As I have said before, sometimes we have to make our friends stand up for us, and this will be an issue where we need our friends in the Congress to stand strong on this issue. A lot of our COPE dollars have supported members of Congress in the past, and whether this tax on our members is in the final bill will be in their hands (vote). Now is the time to let them know we will not take this assault on our hard earned wages. 


Join COPE now and help us stop this blatant attempt to finance health care reform on the backs of TWU members and other union workers. 


Your COPE dollars will be used to stop this assault on your wages. We need to donate to COPE now more then ever to make sure our benefits are not taxed. Make your donation to COPE today and help us in our fight to make Congress responsive to our concerns.