AFL-CIO chief presses wavering Dems, takes victory lap on health bill

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka pressed House members to vote for the healthcare bill in the halls of the Capitol Sunday.

Trumka, head of the nation's largest union group, was spotted speaking one-on-one with Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), a former union leader who has said he will vote against the Senate healthcare bill.

Trumka told reporters that he stressed to Lynch that this was "an important bill for everybody and we wanted him to support the bill."

Trumka made it clear that Lynch could see less support from the AFL-CIO if he votes against the bill.

"We have a scorecard, some are more important than others," Trumka said. "This is a very important vote because this is the future of the country."

The scorecard is part of the information given to AFL-CIO members when they decide whether the union will endorse candidates in elections, Trumka said.

Lynch has opposed the Senate-passed health bill because he feels it rewards insurance companies and because it includes a tax on high-cost health plans, some of which are subscribed to by union members.

Trumka and other union leaders have backed a fix to the bill to be made in the reconciliation package that raises the cost threshold for plans that would be hit by the tax.

Trumka told The Hill that passage of the bill was a "very, very historic first step in fixing a broken system."

"It won't end it, there'll still be more things," he said. "We'll have to make adjustments as things go to make this tighter, and if the insurance companies continue in their merry ways, other things, like the public option, will be in the wake of this."

Unions had pushed lawmakers to include in the bill a new government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance plans, arguing that the public insurance option would force other insurers to constrain costs.

Trumka celebrated with other Democrats once pro-life Democrats committed to voting for the measure and all-but-ensured the bill will have enough votes to pass. He hugged Reps. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).

"This is grand, it really is," DeLauro told Trumka. "It's so exciting."

"It's only been 60 years," Trumka replied, referring to the push for comprehensive healthcare reform made by President Harry Truman.