President William Francisco reports that the Decatur Trades and Labor Assembly has endorsed HR 676, Congressman John Conyers’ national single payer bill, HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All.

Located along the Sangamon River in Central Illinois, Decatur is the home of generations of strong unionists who have struggled mightily to protect their benefits and conditions. The Assembly represents 36 local unions with 13,000 members.

Amy Rueff, a member of Roofers Local 92 and Treasurer of the Assembly, spoke with Unions for Single Payer. “Especially with the way that Trump’s moves on health care are going now, we feel like the nation needs to move forward—we need ongoing protection and stability in health care. That’s why we need HR 676 and we endorsed it unanimously,” she said. Rueff has been active in the union movement for 31 years.

This is the 153rd labor council to take this action. There are currently 114 cosponsors on HR 676, more than ever before since the legislation was first introduced in 2003.

On Wednesday, May 24th, just before the CBO reported that 23 million Americans would lose their health insurance under the House GOP bill, Congressman John Conyers, and seven other cosponsors of HR 676 and representatives of physicians and nurses announced the amazing growth of both public and Congressional support for HR 676.

The link to the story on the press conference is here.