Nevada State AFL-CIO has been on record for Medicare for All since 2008

by Kay Tillow

Originally published on DailyKos.com

In the midst of the anti-Medicare for All position recently announced by the leaders of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, it is important to note that there has long been support for single payer health care by Nevada unions from the rank-and-file to the highest body.

In September of 2008, Danny L. Thompson, former Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Nevada State AFL-CIO, informed the All Unions Committee that the state AFL-CIO had passed a resolution to support single payer at its recent convention.

According to Jack Mallory, then political director of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPATDC #15), the unanimous vote by the Nevada AFL-CIO convention took place on August 19, 2008, and was an endorsement of HR 676, national single payer health care legislation, also called Expanded and Improved Medicare for All.

The action was a part of a nationwide campaign to build grassroots labor support for HR 676, national single payer legislation sponsored by Congressman John Conyers. The Nevada State AFL-CIO is one of 44 state AFL-CIO federations to pass such a resolution. Similar support for single payer has been taken by 158 central labor councils and 637 union bodies.

The Nevada State AFL-CIO currently represents approximately 150,000 members according to its website.

2020-02-16