Labor Councils in Bakersfield, California, and Schenectady, New York are the latest central labor bodies to endorse HR 676, single payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). One hundred and fourteen labor councils and Area Labor Federations have now endorsed HR 676.

The Schenectady Central Labor Council endorsed HR 676 at its August 11th meeting. Council President Frank Natalie said after the vote: “It is the position of the council that in the richest country in the world, every person is entitled to affordable and adequate healthcare coverage regardless of socioeconomic status. Those without adequate health insurance coverage often forgo preventive care and treatments at times making this a life or death decision, often these victims are children. This is unacceptable.”

In Bakersfield, CA, the Kern, Inyo and Mono Counties Central Labor Council also endorsed HR 676 at its August meeting. The resolution, endorsing HR 676 and the state’s single payer bill, SB 840, states: “Previous, piecemeal approaches to this crisis have not only failed to establish universal, comprehensive, affordable health care for Californians, but have even further complicated an already fragmented, profoundly inequitable system.”