National Health Care Call-In Day is Tomorrow (10/7)

Congress needs to hear from you - not just insurance lobbyists

Seven hundred thousand dollars per day. That's how much money health insurance companies and HMO's are spending to kill health insurance reform. That's your premium dollars at work, folks, lobbying the Congress to protect their profits and against your interests.

What are you going to do about it? Call the Congress on Wednesday, October 7, 2009!

Tomorrow is the AFL-CIO's National Call-In Day for Reform. Dial 1-877-3-AFL-CIO (1-877-323-5246) to be connected to your U.S. Senators and your individual representative.

Tell Congress we need health care reform NOW that:

• Controls costs and doesn't tax our benefits.
• Provides guaranteed coverage for all Americans.
• Includes a public health insurance plan option.
• Holds insurance companies accountable.
• Requires all employers to pay their fair share.

Call 1-877-3-AFL-CIO and join the National Call-In Day for Reform because health care can't wait!

Download the flyer for this event (PDF).

Health Equity for All: Civil Rights Groups Join Ad War

WATCH VIDEO: 'Under the Bus'

A coalition of national civil rights groups, including the NAACP Voter Action Fund and the National Council of La Raza, have joined to make sure health insurance reform legislation coming together in the Congress does not "throw 46 million of us under the bus."

Health Equity for All on their entry into the debate:

"The country's largest African-American and Latino organizations are joining forces with other major national civil rights and grassroots organizations to mobilize the nation's 100 million people of color for a final push in support of universal health care reform. Leaders of the organizations are coming together to make certain that the voices of people of color are heard -- and heeded -- as the health care reform debate enters its final, critical days. The groups will release television and print ads in English and Spanish that will run in four states with sizable African-American and Latino populations, part of a grassroots effort to ensure that members of Congress appreciate the importance of reform to the people of color they represent."

Here's the English language version of the ad running in Arkansas, targeting Senator Blanche Lincoln:

Text of the ad:

"The year I was born, they tried to reform health care, and now I'm 65 years old, and it still hasn't happened. Now we can make this real. I'm not gonna let special interests and politicians throw 46 million of us under the bus. I've seen too much in my lifetime, and I'm not gonna leave my grandkids' health in the hands of insurance companies that care more about profits than they do about everyday families. And as for the politicians, tell Senator Lincoln that there needs to be room for all of us on this bus."

Click here for a Spanish language version running in North Carolina, targeting Senator Kay Hagan.

Health Equity for All started with a $250,000 ad buy in Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. You can help keep these ads on the air with a donation here.

REMINDER: NC NAACP Labor Breakfast is Friday (10/9)!

Don't miss special event for labor at 66th State NAACP Convention

Our HKonJ ally on many issues important to workers and working families in North Carolina - like the long-fought campaign to organize Smithfield Foods and our effort to win collective bargaining rights for public employees - the NC chapter of the NAACP will hold it's 66th Annual State Convention in Hickory next month.

The NC NAACP has invited us to join them at the Labor & Industry Breakfast on Friday, October 9, 2009.

What: NAACP Labor & Industry Breakfast
Where: Hickory Metro Convention Center, 1960 13th St NE, Hickory, NC
When: Friday, October 9 at 7:00 AM

Civil rights and labor leader the Rev. Nelson Johnson will deliver the keynote address at the Labor & Industry breakfast.

For more information about the 66th Annual NAACP State Convention, visit www.naacpnc.org.

Carolinas Labor Management Conference Next Month

Networking and training opportunity Nov 4-6

The annual conference of labor and management professionals from both Carolinas (and now Virginia, too) will be held in Myrtle Beach, SC early next month. Conference organizers have this to say:

The mission of the Conference is to establish a forum to present and share information, programs, and ideas with employees, employers, labor organizations, educators, state agencies, federal agencies, third-party neutrals, and others who are interested in promoting the economic well-being, free flow of commerce, and progressive Labor-Management relationships within the Carolinas.

For more about the Carolinas Labor Management Conference, including a brochure (PDF) and registration info, visit www.carolinaslmc.com.