Union Members Recommit to Winning Improved and Expanded Medicare for All

National Labor Strategy Conference Sees “Single Payer” Solution as Best Way to Control Costs and Improve Quality of Care

Karen Lewis, President Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago, IL – More than two hundred union leaders and activists gathered in Chicago January 11-13 for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Health Care’s fourth national conference to strategize about next steps for labor in the movement to win universal health care. With government officials from both major parties contemplating cuts in Medicare as part of a “grand bargain,” delegates resolved to stand up to any cuts in this cornerstone social insurance program.

Conferees were welcomed and inspired by Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, who shared lessons of her union’s recent successful strike. Lewis drew important parallels between the struggles for quality public education and quality universal health care.