Louisiana Change that Works has been sending health care stories to Congressman Charlie Melancon to demonstrate the faces behind the struggle with the current health care system in Louisiana. Rep. Melancon has remained reluctant to express support of H.R. 3200, the America's Quality Health Act.

During the August recess, we'll be gearing up for a fight now that it looks clear that the bill will not be voted upon until after recess. Congress claims they want to hear from their constituents throughout the recess--so we're going to take their word at face value. Our voices are clear and we will continue to send first person narratives to Rep. Melancon and his colleagues in the House urging passage of the health care reform bill.

See the faces of Louisianans asking for reform here:

Read a few of their letters to Rep. Charlie Melancon:

Hello, my name is Victor Pizarro and I am an administrator for a New Orleans non-profit called "Plan B Bike Shop." We're a community based organization that helps local residents obtain and repair bicycles. Of course, Plan B is unable to provide health care for me so I am currently enrolled in indigent health care coverage through LSU.

For the past six months I have suffered from severe kidney stones. Needless to say, this condition has been extremely painful and needs immediate attention. Unfortunately my appointment with LSU has been pushed back for six months so, for now, I am forced to live with the pain.

Please Congressman Melancon, consider the human consequences of health care reform as you debate and vote on this issue in Congress. This is not an abstract issue. It has real consequences for real people.

Hello, my name is Jennifer Olszewski. I work for $6.50 / hour plus tips. My job does not supply health insurance.

In 2004 when I had rotten wisdom teeth that were causing a lot of pain, I got quotes from several area dentists, but none would use a payment plan. I finally found a place in the St Bernard projects that would pull the 3 impacted teeth for $300. The clinic didn't use any pain management. I will never forget the pain.

Nowadays I only seek health care (usually at the Emergency Room) if I feel like I am going to die. Last time I went there, however, I sat for 12 hours without receiving medical attention.

Please Congressman, remember those who you have pledged to represent and support real health care reform.

Louisianans, the time is now, write Congressman Melancon and tell him why you need reform now-- health care reform in Louisiana can not wait!

Congress have held 79 hearings on health insurance reform in just over two years and Members have held more than 550 health care town halls and public events around the country. This evidence speaks truth to power that, health care reform is something that folks from Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana and the rest of the Nation want now.

Why is there talk of a delay?

The Daily News Journal reported this week:

Reps. Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Baron Hill of Indiana, Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Mike Ross of Arkansas are among the Blue Dog Coalition members raising issue with the cost of the bill.

Have they reviewed the cost of not fixing our current broken system? There is real value in reforming the health care system-- read some of the statistics and future projections Congress could help alleviate with a yes vote on H.R. 3200:

Louisiana: 969,000 Louisiana adults, 73.1 percent of the uninsured, are employed, but either they cannot afford their employer's health insurance plan, or their employers do not offer coverage.

Tennessee: By 2016, projections show that Tennessee families will have to pay close to $19,400 for health care or over 44 percent of median household income. This would represent a 70 percent increase over 2008 levels.

Arkansas: In 2007, Arkansas's economy lost as much as $1.53 billion because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured. That equates to $3,400 per uninsured Arkansas resident. This year, Arkansas faces a $107 million projected state budget deficit. This represents 2.4% of state spending.

Indiana: 157,816 uninsured adults in Indiana are between the ages of 50 and 64, meaning that more than 12% of Indiana's aging adults lack health insurance.

Change that Works has mobilized everyday people in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana and Tennessee as well as other states to stand with us for health care reform. These activists have personal stories that fuel their fight for health care reform-- for them, it's not about policy or special interests, it's about providing quality, affordable health care for the citizens of this great Nation. We've rallied in the streets to the halls of Congress-- we've stood together as hospital workers; small business owners; families; veterans and everyday folk to say that we want health care now. And no where in this nation, can we afford to wait much longer.

Currently, H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act is up for a vote in the Energy and Commerce committee. We cannot afford to delay this vote because we all know that a delay means killing health care reform. We've waited 60 years for reform-- this has not been a rushed process. Our current health care system is on its last legs and H.R. 3200 is the best chance we've had towards providing quality health care for working American families.

Call toll-free 1-866-339-6321 and let Congress know that H.R. 3200 is the will of the people.

Ah, childhood memories...for most of us, these include certain instances of being sick and staying home from school. If you were fortunate, these recollections also include visits to the family physician or being forced to take medicine you probably didn't like the taste of.

For many families, being able to go to the doctor when an illness strikes or buying medicine from the drugstore when a family member gets a cold is simply not a reality. SEIU Local 21LA member Eula Williams thinks back on her younger years and remembers when her family was forced to use homemade 'remedies' including "fatback" and "cod oil" because they couldn't afford traditional medicines for ailments such as a sore throat or pneumonia. "I know what it is like to be without healthcare...I also know the devastating affects it has on others who simply cannot afford it," said Williams, explaining why she didn't hesitate to come to Washington, DC to promote healthcare reform as a Grassroots Lobbyist (GRL) for SEIU earlier this summer.

Eula works in Lafayette, Louisiana, as an early childhood education teacher with SMILE Head Start, a program that provides early childhood education and developmental services to low-income children. As a mother to six children of her own, Eula knows the hardships of providing for a large family when having insurance can mean little if it is not affordable, or doesn't provide the coverage you need. When Eula's husband had to have two open heart surgeries, the resulting high deductibles from the operations created a financial burden that has undermined her ability to help send her children to college--or save for her own retirement. "Whether we realize it or not, we are our brother's keepers--Every soul is precious. Every life is important, and what affects one, affects another," says Williams. "Healthcare reform is a priority. Yes, we can make it happen, now."

For Americans like Eula, real hope for changing the status quo of inadequate coverage and unaffordable premiums is now closer than ever. Last week, efforts towards reform cleared several hurdles, as three of the five Congressional committees working on legislation to reinvent the nation's health care system delivered bills seeking to lower costs, expand coverage, assure choice and be deficit-neutral. No one is more aware than President Obama that defense of the status quo is not acceptable. On Friday, the President said these words: "We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. It will happen this year."

---

Note: Eula Williams spent five weeks as a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign to support President Obama's Healthcare Reform Act.

Read more blog posts profiling SEIU Grassroots Member Lobbyists here and here.

When CEOs in Washington decide the agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they seem to forget all about real workers and business owners throughout America. For decades, they have fought legislation that would have a real impact on working families right here in Louisiana. With over 136,000 Louisianans out of work, now is the time to do everything we can to stand up to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - and stand up for working families.

The U.S. Chamber opposed wage hikes that not only benefited hundreds of thousands of Louisianans but also pump more than $160 million into the state economy. They opposed a children's health care that will not only cover more than 82,000 more children in Louisiana, but also will create nearly 4,000 jobs in the state. The U.S. Chamber doesn't speak for working families in Louisiana.

IMPACT OF MINIMUM WAGE HIKES ON LOUISIANA:

The U.S. Chamber "Has Consistently Opposed Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage." In July 2007, Marc Freedman, the labor law policy director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote, "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed increasing the federal minimum wage." He added, "Increasing the minimum wage does not even help those it is intended to benefit." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/17/07]

U.S. Chamber Official on Wage Hike: "We Have Taken The Hell No Attitude." "We have taken the 'hell, no' attitude," said the U.S. Chamber's Randel Johnson discussing a proposed minimum wage increase in 1999. "I don't care what the 20-second sound bites say. This move hurts lower-income, lower-skilled workers."[Akron Beacon Journal, 6/21/99]

U.S. Chamber Official: "We Don't Think Government Ought to Be in the Business of Setting Wages." In 2002, U.S. Chamber spokesman Randy Johnson said, "We don't think the government ought to be in the business of setting wages." [Washington Times, 5/6/02]

U.S. Chamber: "Wage Mandates Ignore the Principles of Free Market Economies." In an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of Louisiana, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote, "Wage mandates ignore the principles of free market economies; they prevent businesses from making profits, growing and hiring more workers; and they base wages on what the worker wants instead of on the value of work performed." [The Pantagraph, 11/21/04]

2007 Minimum Wage Hike Could Pump $160.9 MILLION Into Louisiana's Economy. The average American works 1,916 hours every year. In 2007, 40,000 Louisianans earned at or below the federal minimum wage. With an increase from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by July 2009, the 2007 wage increase passed by Congress could pump $160.9 million into Louisiana's economy. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Work Schedules in the National Compensation Survey," 7/28/08; Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007," 5/7/08; EPI, "What a new federal minimum wage means for the states," 5/25/07]

Study Found That 366,000 Louisianans Would Benefit From the 2007 Minimum Wage Hike. The Economic Policy Institute found that approximately 366,000 people in Louisianans alone would benefit from a federal minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour. This include those workers that were earning less than $7.25 as well as workers that would benefit indirectly as other wages increase proportionately. EPI explained, "While a raise is not legally mandated for these workers, empirical evidence shows that many employers raise the wages of workers earning above the new minimum wage in order to preserve internal wage structures, an occurrence known as the 'spillover effect.'" [EPI, "Issue Guide on Minimum Wage, 8/1/08]

IMPACT OF FAIR PAY LAWS ON LOUISIANA:

U.S. Chamber Opposed Equal Pay Bill, Saying it Would "Undermine America's Civil Rights Laws." In a January 2009 letter to Congress, R. Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote that the U.S. Chamber opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill to protect workers who receive unfair pay for equal work, "on both substantive and procedural grounds." Discussing another fair pay bill this year, the Chamber's Randel Johnson said, "further increasing the opportunity for frivolous litigation would only further serve to undermine America's civil rights laws." [Chamber Letter, 1/14/09; Chamber Press Release, 1/9/09]

U.S. Chamber Opposed 1998 Equal Pay Law for Women. In 1998, the U.S. Chamber opposed President Clinton's call for legislation to strengthen laws reducing disparities in men and women's earning power. Randel Johnson, vice president of labor policy at the chamber, said that wage disparities are due mainly to the interruption of many women's job careers to raise families. "Work experience does tend to translate to greater wages," Johnson said. [AP, 6/10/98]

Women in Louisiana Earn Only 65% Of What Their Male Counterparts Make, Thirteen Percentage Points Below National Average. According to a study released by the National Women's Law Center, "In 2007, on average, women in Louisiana working full-time, year-round earned only 65% of what men working full-time, year-round earned -- thirteen percentage points below the nationwide average of 78%. The wage gap is even more substantial when race and gender are considered together. White, non-Hispanic women working full-time, year-round in Louisiana earned only 74% of the wages of White, non-Hispanic men. However, Black women working full-time, year-round in Louisiana earned only 45%, and Hispanic women only 54%, of the wages of White, non-Hispanic men." [National Women's Law Center, April 2009]

IMPACT OF OUTSOURCING ON LOUISIANA:

U.S. Chamber President Defended Outsourcing of U.S. Jobs, Arguing That Americans Are "Short of Skills." Defending outsourcing in 2004, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said, "The big fundamental issue that we need to understand is we are short of skills in this country. Five years from now we'll have 10 million skilled jobs and we haven't got the people to fill." [CNNFN, 5/3/04]

U.S. Chamber President: "There Are Legitimate Values in Outsourcing." In 2004, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said, "there are legitimate values in outsourcing -- not only jobs, but work -- to gain technical experience and benefit we don't have here, to lower the price of products, which means more and more of them are brought into the United States, used, for example, I.T., much broader use than it was 10 years ago, create more and more jobs. But the bottom line is that we outsource very few jobs in relation to the size of our economy. We employ -- American companies employ 140 million Americans. They provide health care for 160 million Americans. They provide training in terms of 40 billion a year. The outsourcing deal over three or four or five years and the two or three sets of numbers are only going to be, you know, maybe two, maybe three million jobs, maybe four." [CNNFN, 2/10/04]

U.S. Chamber President Suggested More Jobs Were Brought In to the U.S. Than Outsourced to Other Countries. In 2004, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said, "nobody knows where Lou got 2.2 [million] outsourced jobs. Maybe we've got 300,000 in the last couple of years. The most interesting thing is that if you take an annual basis, we insource in the very same categories of work $16 billion more than we outsourced, which is 2 million jobs." [CNNFN, 9/2/04]

In 2007 Alone, Louisiana Lost 42,700 Jobs to Outsourcing. According to a study from the Economic Policy Institute, Louisiana lost 42,700 jobs as a result of the U.S. non-oil trade deficit in 2007 alone. Nationwide, 5.6 million jobs were lost. 70% of these jobs were in the manufacturing sector. [EPI, 10/2/08]

Louisiana Has Lost Nearly 40,000 Manufacturing Jobs Since 2000. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in April 2009, there were 147,100 manufacturing jobs in Louisiana. In January 2000, 186,700 Louisianans worked in the manufacturing sector. [BLS, 5/22/09; 3/28/00]

IMPACT OF CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE ON LOUISIANA:

Chamber Opposed 2009 Bill to Expand Children's Health Care. In a January 2009 letter to Congress, R. Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged members to vote against the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, writing that the bill "raises taxes on a narrow sector of the U.S. economy with the aim of funding a broad-based entitlement program, which is grossly unfair and burdensome to American businesses and consumers." [Chamber Letter, 1/14/09]

Chamber Opposed 2007 Bill to Expand Children's Health Care. In September 2007, the Phoenix Business Journal reported, "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is opposing a federal plan to raise tobacco taxes to fund government-provided health services for uninsured children. That puts the U.S. Chamber on the same side of the issue as the Bush administration." "To prejudice a narrow sector of the U.S. economy with the aim of funding a broad-based entitlement program is grossly unfair and burdensome to American businesses and consumers," said the chamber in a letter to congressional leaders on the issue. [Phoenix Business Journal, 9/26/07; Chamber Letter, 7/17/07]

82,100 Louisiana Children Could Gain Coverage Under the 2009 SCHIP Expansion. A 2009 report from Families USA found that 82,100 Louisiana children could be covered under the 2009 bill to expand and reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program. [Families USA, January 2009]

Children's Health Care Reauthorization Will Bring $812.8 Million Into Louisiana, Creating 3,897 Jobs. In 2007, a Families USA study found: "With $50 billion in additional federal funding for SCHIP and Medicaid, SCHIP reauthorization could bring Louisiana approximately $812.8 million in new federal funding for children's health coverage over the next five years. This would result in the state getting three times the amount it would have otherwise gotten for SCHIP... Over the next five years, $812.8 million in new federal funding will create: $317.2 million in increased business activity, $116.5 million in increased wages, and 3,897 additional jobs for Louisiana." [Families USA, May 2007]

IMPACT OF MEDICARE ON LOUISIANA:

Chamber Opposed 2008 Bill to Prevent Medicare Cuts. In June 2008, R. Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote that the Chamber opposed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, S. 3101, because it would cut the Medicare Advantage program. Referring to the bill, and the cuts to the private insurance Medicare Advantage program, the American Medical Association aired an ad saying "A group of U.S. senators voted to protect the powerful insurance companies at the expense of Medicare patients' access to doctors." [Chamber Letter, 6/12/08; AP, 7/2/08]

581,345 Medicare Beneficiaries, Along With 125,230 Military Members and Their Families, Would Have Been Affected If 2008 Medicare Cuts Had Gone Through. In 2008, the Chamber opposed a bill that prevented a 10.6% cut in Medicare payments to doctors. According to the American Medical Association, 581,345 Medicare patients and 125,230 TRICARE patients in Louisiana would have been affected by these cuts. [American Medical Association, February 2009]

IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON LOUISIANA:

U.S. Chamber Opposed the 1935 Social Security Act. According to an official history of Social Security, "In 1935, while there were long debate and votes on many amendments, the Congress passed the Social Security Act by an overwhelming majority. In the House, the vote was 372 yeas, 33 nays and 25 not voting. The vote in the Senate was equally positive, with 77 yeas, 6 nays and 12 not voting. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Act into law on August 14, 1935. Despite the strong support, there was vocal opposition to the Act, both in the Congress and externally. The minority members of the House Ways and Means Committee said it would impose a crushing burden upon industry and upon labor. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers opposed the bill." [SSA History: History of SSA 1993-2000]

U.S. Chamber Wanted to Postpone 1935 Social Security Act. In June 1935, the New York Times reported on a "broad program for recovery and re-employment" adopted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. On Social Security, they reported, "The chamber will continue to advocate that enactment of the major features of the pending social security legislation be postponed until there can be further examination by a Congressional committee. If a study of this character is made, the chamber will present to such a committee its views as to the constitutionality of the legislation as proposed and will emphasize the fact that the proposals now pending would double the entire present volume of Federal taxes." [New York Times, 6/16/35]

U.S. Chamber President: Any Social Security Reform "Must" Include Privatization. In June 2005, Thomas J. Donohue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, co-wrote an op-ed that stated, "any Social Security reform must meet four core principles," including "Giving younger workers the option of investing part of their payroll taxes in personal retirement accounts." In January 2005, Donohue "said a Social Security overhaul is 'doable' this year and said the Chamber believes 'individual investment accounts must be an important component of reform.' [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 6/7/05; National Journal's CongressDaily, 1/5/05]

If Social Security Were Privatized, Louisiana Would Lose At Least $3 BILLION Every Year. According to a 2005 report by the National Women's Law Center, "In 2002, $6.6 billion flowed into the Louisiana economy through Social Security benefits." If the cuts expected under President Bush's plan were to take effect currently, "Louisiana would lose $3 billion per year, even including the proceeds from private accounts. This amount is equivalent to 17% of state government expenditures in fiscal year 2002 (state government expenditures include money generated from state funds, federal funds, and the sale of state bonds)." [National Women's Law Center, February 2005]

Privatizing Social Security Would Impose an $11.6 BILLION Unfunded Mandate on Louisiana. According to the Institute for America's Future in 2005, the Bush Social Security privatization plan would create a new $11.6 billion unfunded federal mandate on the state of Louisiana and would plunge at least 103,000 Louisiana seniors into poverty. [Institute for America's Future, April 2005]

Women in Louisiana Would Be Hard Hit If Social Security Were Privatized, With Widow's Benefit Dropping $4,224 Per Year. According to a 2005 report by the National Women's Law Center, "The typical recipient of a Social Security widow's benefit in Louisiana receives $782 per month ($9,384 per year). According to the Congressional Budget Office, under Plan 2 of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, today's kindergarteners are projected to receive 45% less than they are promised under current law, even when the proceeds from their private accounts are included in the total. If such a benefit cut were to take effect currently, the typical widow in Louisiana would receive only $430 per month ($5,160 per year), an amount equal to only 60% of the poverty line." [National Women's Law Center, February 2005]

IMPACT OF WORKER SAFETY ON LOUISIANA:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vigorously Opposed Occupational Safety Regulations. In an article written between the initial bill supported by President Johnson and the second bill, that passed, supported by President Nixon, the New York Times reported: "The first legislation providing for a comprehensive nationwide system of health and safety standards was proposed last year by President Johnson. Strongly supported by labor, the bill ran into immediate and vigorous opposition from industry, led by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States." [New York Times, 12/10/69]

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce "led the fight to defeat the 1968 bill." [New York Times, 3/19/70]

U.S. Chamber Argued That OSHA Was a Failure. In 1979, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce charged "that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had failed to reduce worker injuries and illnesses significantly since its inception in 1970." Mark De Bernardo of the Chamber wrote, "In the wake of piles of more O.S.H.A. rules and paperwork, fatal injuries on the job soared by more than 24 percent from 1976 to 1977." [New York Times, 8/27/79]

U.S. Chamber Spokesman Said OSHA Is a "Blatant Denial of Fundamental Fairness." When describing the structure of the Labor Department within the Executive Branch rather than the Judicial Branch of the government, Richard Berman, then director of labor law for the United States Chamber of Commerce, said "This has a chilling effect on an employer's exercise of his right to appeal and is thus a blatant denial of fundamental fairness." Berman now runs the Center for Union Facts, a corporate front group trying to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. [U.S. News & World Report, 11/24/75; New York Times, 1/9/09]

In 2007, 2.9 Workplace Injuries Were Reported for Every 100 Workers in Louisiana. In 2007, there were 2.9 cases of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses for every 100 workers in Louisiana. In addition, 139 Louisianans reportedly died as a result of workplace injuries in 2007. [BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2007; BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2007]

Last week hundreds of CEOs and other businesspeople flew to Washington, DC to pressure your senators. They want Senator David Vitter to stand with the same greedy CEOs who wrecked our economy in the first place.

I need you to fight back. We just produced this ad making it clear that Senator Vitter can't stand with CEOs. Send your message to Senator David Vitter now.

Some of the biggest corporations in America are lining up to fight Louisiana's working people. They're spending millions of dollars - some of it your tax dollars from the bailouts! - to stop corporations from being held accountable.

They think that they can send in CEOs to make Senator Vitter forget about working people. With your help, we can make sure that doesn't happen.

Tell Senator Vitter to stand with working families and support the Employee Free Choice Act.

On Saturday, June 6, Change that Works organizers joined as dozens of activists from Organizing for America answered the President's call to meet and discuss health care reform. In house meetings across the state, Louisianans watched the President's health care reform message; shared their health care stories and found out how they could further participate in the health care reform discussion.

At dozens of meet-ups, people shared stories of their experiences with a broken health care system--from small business owners unable to provide expensive insurance to working families being forced to make the unimaginable choices between paying the mortgage and paying for health care. The story was achingly the same, the time for real reform is now.

Plans were made for helping to spread the word and lay the groundwork for the national day of action on June 27. Echoing similar calls from all across the country, the message from Shreveport to New Orleans, Lake Charles to Baton Rouge was clear: it is time to take action and demand the change we need. Join SEIU's Change That Works campaign and stay tuned in the coming weeks for more details on the national day of action.

Today, SEIU's Change that Works campaign released a report on rising health care costs and the value of reform in Louisiana. The facts speak for themselves - in a state like Louisiana, health care reform is not just about improving the health and safety of Americans, it's also a bottom-line, balance sheet issue. Government, families and businesses large & small stand to save trillions from fixing health care. It will strengthen Louisiana's businesses, help us retain jobs, and provide greater access and choices to citizens in need of care. Below are highlights from the report:

Health Reform will Save Consumers Money. A reformed health care system will save every individual over $7,000 in premium and out of pocket expenses over the next ten years.

• Health Insurance premiums in Louisiana increased by 75.3 percent from 2000 to 2007, while median earnings only increased a mere 22.9 percent.
• The median yearly wage in 2007 for Louisiana was only $25,147, but the average health care premium for a family was $11,455. This means that premiums grew 3.3 times faster than wages
• By 2016, projections show that Louisiana families will have to pay around $23,000 for health care annually.
• If current trends continue, family premiums would cost over 60 percent of median household income. This would represent an 84 percent increase over 2008 levels.
• In Louisiana, approximately 992,000 non‐elderly people will spend more than 10% of their pre‐tax family income on health care costs in 2009.

  78.2 percent of those spending more than 10% of their income on health care costs have insurance, but are underinsured.

  776,000 Louisiana residents with insurance spent more than 10% of their pre‐tax income on health care costs, and 231,000 spend more than 25% of their income.

  • Louisiana's senior population is not exempt from high out of pocket costs for health care either. Medicare beneficiaries in Louisiana spend about 30 percent of their incomes, on average, on out‐of‐pocket health costs.
  • Even though Medicare is a necessary and popular program, it falls short of what many people age 65 and over need to ensure health and financial security. In Louisiana average out of pocket spending for Medicare beneficiaries is $5,366. Download the entire report here:

Helene O'Brien, President of SEIU Local 21LA issued the following statement in response to Senator Vitter's most recent fundraising email:

In a recent fundraising email, Senator Vitter attacked the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for exposing his votes against working families. But it's nothing compared to the hardships he's caused to middle and low-income Louisianans with his votes as the Junior Senator of Louisiana.

SEIU believes Louisianans deserve to know how Senator Vitter lets down working families in our state:

• Our Senator voted NO to providing health care for four million children when he voted against SCHIP legislation.
• He voted NO to creating and keeping jobs in Louisiana when he voted against the economic recovery package.
• And as if that's not enough, he voted AGAINST long-term economic recovery for all Americans when he opposed a budget that would get our economy back on track.

Senator Vitter consistently votes against the interests of working families in our state--while supporting CEOs and corporate banks who line his campaign chest.

And for him to shamelessly cover up the votes he's cast by soliciting donations for his 2010 campaign, working families in Louisiana have only one thing to say:

Senator Vitter: You can run for re-election, but you can't hide from your voting record.

Senator Vitter was right about one thing though--the election is more than 500 days away. That's why working families throughout Louisiana are uniting now to hold politicians accountable. We need to make sure in November 2010, we elect leaders who will stand up for hardworking Louisianans.

Union members in Louisiana and across the country earn significantly more than non- union workers. "Over the four-year period between 2004 and 2007, unionized workers' wages in Louisiana were on average 6.9 percent higher than non-union workers with similar characteristics. That means that, all else equal, Louisiana workers that join a union will earn 6.9 percent more--or $1.25 more per hour in 2008 dollars--than their otherwise identical non-union counterparts." [Unions are Good for Louisiana's Economy, 2/18/09]

Unionization rewards workers for productivity growth. "Slow wage growth has squeezed the middle class and contributed to rising inequality. But increasing union coverage rates could likely reverse these trends as more Americans would benefit from the union wage premium and receive higher wages. If unionization rates were the same now as they were in 1983 and the current union wage premium remained constant, new union workers in Louisiana would earn an estimated $471 million more in wages and salaries per year. If union coverage rates increased by just 5 percentage points over current levels, Louisiana's newly unionized workers would earn an estimated $188 million more in wages and salaries per year.13 Non-union workers would also benefit as employers would likely raise wages to match what unions would win in order to avoid unionization." [Unions are Good for Louisiana's Economy, 2/18/09]

• Higher Wages & Benefits Help U.S. Economy by Giving Workers the Ability to Purchase More Goods & Services. According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund report, unionization is good for the economy overall and "putting more money in workers' pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy." Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stated that higher wages and higher benefits would give workers the purchasing power they need to buy more of the goods and services that this economy produces. [CAP Report: Unions are Good for the American Economy, 2/18/09]

The Avondale Unionization Fight - Seven-Year Wait for Contract

Although employees of Avondale Industries voted in 1993 to form a union, the company used legal challenges to block the final tally until 1997

Employees Wanted a Union for Safer Working Conditions; Avondale Shipyard Had a High Rate of Fatal Accidents. Workers said that Avondale had a history of poor worker safety. In 1998, the New York Times reported, "Many Avondale workers say they desperately need a union to raise wages at the lowest-paying major shipyard in the nation and to end Avondale's high rate of fatal accidents. According to the union, 30 workers have died in accidents since 1972." [New York Times, 7/10/98]

• Avondale Employees Wanted to Join a Union for Safety Reasons and For Better Benefits. When workers started organizing, The Times Picayune wrote, "workers are concerned about poor health care, cutback on retirement benefits, lack of job security and unsafe working conditions, said a spokesman for the [AFL-CIO Metal Trades] council, which is trying to organize Avondale. Pay is not a major issue, he said." [New Orleans Times-Picayune, 6/2/93]

Avondale Workers Said They Felt Threatened When They Voted. An Avondale worker who did not want to be identified to the Times-Picayune talked about the intimidation at the Shipyard and said that management had "been threatening in certain ways. They might shut it down . . . trying to scare you they might strike. All that kind of stuff makes you think whether you want to vote union or not." When asked if there were any problems or hard feelings, the worker looked across the street at the anti-union sign carriers and said, "This don't look like no party out here. It's hot in there, really." [New Orleans Times-Picayune, 6/26/93]

• Shipyard Employees Were Told That If They Joined a Union, Avondale Would Lose a Big Contract. In order to scare workers so that they would not vote for the union, "Chairman Albert Bossier Jr. recently told assembled workers that unionization would jeopardize a hoped-for $300 million tanker contract with Texaco that the Legislature has just agreed to back. At present, shipyards in the New Orleans area are almost entirely non-union, and Avondale's management wants to keep it that way." [New Orleans Times-Picayune, 6/2/93]

A Delay In the Voting Occurred When Avondale Refused to Agree to the Size of the Bargaining Unit. Avondale attempted to increase the size of the bargaining unit to delay the vote and to decrease the likelihood of a union being formed. The Times-Picayune reported, "Holding up the vote is a disagreement on 'who is eligible to vote and who is not,' Malone said. 'The (National Labor Relations) Act excludes supervisors, office clericals and professionals,' Malone said. Union organizers proposed a unit of 2,600 employees, said Phil Miller, spokesman for the Metal Trades Council and vice president of Steamfitters Local 60. 'The company came up with a list of over 4,300,' Miller said." Miller disputed an earlier Avondale count of 6,500 workers in the main yard. "I don't believe that. We handbill in the morning, and count every handbill. There are no more than 3,300 employees that go through those gates," Miller said. [New Orleans Times-Picayune, 6/2/93]

Hundreds of Ballots Were Challenged by the NLRB, the Union and the Company leading to a 6 Month Delay in Certification. Once the Election was held, over 800 ballots were challenged, meaning "It could take till the end of the year before workers at Avondale Industries Inc.'s main shipyard know whether their vote... strongly favoring union representation will be validated because so many ballots were challenged, union organizers and the government agency that supervised the balloting said. Of the 4,060 employees the company listed as eligible to vote, 1,804 voted for representation by the Metal Trades Council, an umbrella of 11 AFL-CIO unions; 1,263 voted against the union; 847 ballots were challenged; and 11 were declared void. Some 640 to 650 ballots were challenged by the National Labor Relations Board, which conducted the vote Friday. The remainder were challenged by the union or the company." [Journal of Commerce, 6/30/93]

A Federal Hearing Examiner Put the Union Within Reach With a Decision to Count the Majority Of Ballots. In 1995, a federal labor hearing examiner "issued a decision that apparently moves the New Orleans Metal Trades Council within 19 votes of winning the right to represent employees at Avondale Industries Inc. Hearing Examiner Bernard Aronstam on Monday recommended to the National Labor Relations Board that 273 votes of 850 contested ballots in a June 1993 election not be opened and counted but the rest should be. If Aronstam's recommendation is upheld, there would be only 577 votes left to be counted. The union would need only 19 to win a majority of all votes cast. Avondale management would need 559 of the 577 votes to block the union. Management would win if there is a tie." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 3/29/95]

The Federal Hearing Examiner Rejected Avondale's Claims That The Union Engaged In "Improper Conduct During the Election Campaign. Avondale argued that "the union engaged in improper conduct during the election campaign, contending the union tried to use race as an issue and that the union tried to intimidate voters. In his ruling, Aronstam wrote, 'It is hereby recommended that employer's objections be overruled in their entirety because they raise no substantial or material issues which require overturning the election.'" [New Orleans Times Picayune, 3/29/95]

Allegations of Unfair Labor Practices

In Addition to the Case Contesting the Avondale Election, the NLRB Held Hearings On Unfair Labor Practices. In 1994, the Times Picayune reported, "NLRB Regional Director Hugh Frank Malone has set a hearing for July 11 on the union's charges that Avondale was guilty of unfair labor practices before and after the election last year. The charges will be heard by an administrative law judge, who will determine if the charges are valid. 'By setting this hearing, we are alleging that Avondale has violated the law, and it's our burden to establish that violation before the administrative law judge,' Malone said. According to the union allegations, some Avondale employees were threatened with reprisals and questioned about their union activities by supervisors and foremen. Seven employees were discharged, the union said." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 3/3/94]

• The NLRB Alleged That 80 Workers Had Been Demoted or Fired for Participating In Union Activities. "The latest union complaints outline incidents in which at least 80 employees claim to have been harassed, demoted without cause or illegally fired for participating in trades council activities. The incidents allegedly occurred between March 1993 and the present, said William Lurye, the union's attorney. 'There's been a long-standing pattern of harassment by the company,' he said." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 3/3/94]

The NLRB Sought an Injunction Against Avondale Ordering Them to Cease Unfair Labor Practices. In late 1994, the NLRB asked "a federal judge for an injunction ordering Avondale Industries to cease alleged unfair labor practices and reinstate or hire 35 pro-union employees. The petition by Gerard Fleischut, the NLRB's acting regional director, accuses Avondale of threatening employees with firing, transfer to less desirable jobs, and other actions because of their union activity on behalf of the New Orleans Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO. Fleischut wants the court to order Avondale to offer interim reinstatement to 12 discharged employees and interim employment to 23 applicants refused employment." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 10/29/94]

The NLRB Believed That If an Injunction Was Not Ordered, The Union Would Not Be Able to Bargain From a Position of "Equal Strength." "If the injunction is not granted, NLRB attorney Earl Ledford wrote, Avondale's unfair labor practices, including the discharge of a significant number of union supporters, will have so weakened the union that it will not be able to bargain from a position of equal strength if, and when, it is certified. Reinstatement of the 12 employees who were fired and the offer of employment to 23 pro-union applicants who were not hired is necessary to erase the 'chilling impact' that Avondale's discrimination has had on employee support for the union, Ledford said." In January 1995, a District Court ruled against the company's request for an injunction. [New Orleans Times Picayune, 10/29/94; 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1035; 148 L.R.R.M. 2685]

Avondale Employees Attempted to Exercise Their Rights as Shareholders

Avondale Employees Who Own Stock In the Company Attempted to Change Management at a Shareholder's Meeting. Frustrated with the lack of momentum in certifying the union "union members also tried unsuccessfully to push through a series of changes in Avondale's management practices and the make-up of its board of directors at the company's annual meeting. The move failed when other stockholders out-voted union members who own stock via the company's employee stock ownership plan." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 3/3/94]

Federal District Court Found That Avondale Had Unfairly Denied Workers the Chance to Include a Proxy Statement at a Board Meeting. The court decided that Avondale officials could have completely omitted a proposal to reduce the percentage of shareholder votes required to change by-laws, but because they went out of their way by omitting the shareholder's proxy statement, but not Avondale's opposition statement, they are now obligated to make a full disclosure. "Avondale Industries Inc. must call a special shareholders meeting to vote on one proposal by a union-backed committee whose supporting statement - but not Avondale's opposition statement - was omitted from the proxy statement. But U.S. District Judge Henry Mentz refused to cancel Friday's annual meeting of Avondale shareholders to permit re-presentation of proposals backed by the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 4/25/95]

• Employees Attempted Again in 1995 to Exercise Their Rights as Shareholders, but Were Unsuccessful. Although the proxy statement was allowed into the record, "Four proposals offered by the union-controlled Avondale Shareholders Committee were heavily defeated at the meeting, Avondale Chairman Albert Bossier Jr. said. Metal Trades Council attorney William Lurye was not discouraged after the meeting. He said Avondale employees are learning to exercise their rights as shareholders. The four shareholder committee resolutions that failed included one requiring all directors to be elected annually instead of in staggered three-year terms and a second making all ballots confidential and vote tabulation be done by independent election inspectors. Lurye said management had the meeting room ringed with security guards, 'trying to create an intimidating atmosphere for the employees.'" [New Orleans Times Picayune, 4/29/95]

1993 Election Was Finally Certified - In 1997

The NLRB Certified the Union at Avondale Five Years After the Election. "After the election on June 25, 1993, the board had said the union led 1,804 to 1,263 with 850 votes disputed. After years of haggling, the board threw out 307 of the disputed ballots and announced Feb. 5 that the remaining votes were valid and should be counted. In the final tally Saturday, the union won 1,954 to 1,632." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 2/18/97]

Avondale's Attorney Said The Company Would Appeal the Decision and Not Bargain With the Union. Admitting to the legal tactics the company was using to stall a first contract, "Avondale's attorney, Horace "Topper" Thompson of New Orleans, said the company will refuse to bargain with the union in order to throw the case into the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said U.S. labor law does not permit direct appeals of union-vote counts by the labor board." [New Orleans Times Picayune, 2/18/97]

Avondale Industries Fined For Unfair Labor Practices

NLRB Fined Avondale More Than $3 million In Compensation for Unfair Labor Practices. "Siding with labor in a bitter fight against Avondale Industries Inc., an administrative law judge ordered the Louisiana shipyard to reinstate two dozen workers and pay some $ 3 million in fines for an "outrageous and pervasive" campaign of unfair labor practices." [Associated Press, 2/27/98, Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 3/31/98]

• The NLRB Ordered Avondale's CEO to Read its Findings Of Labor Law Violations and Pledge to End Such Practices In Front Of All Employees. "In addition to the fines, Evans ordered Avondale's CEO, Albert Bossier, to post a cease and desist order and either read it himself to an assembly of shipyard employees or sit by as a National Labor Relations Board representative reads it to them." [Associated Press, 2/27/98]

• Avondale Violated Labor Law 100 Times. The judge ruled: "Avondale violated labor law 100 times in trying to thwart the organizing drive. Avondale illegally 'discharged 28 employees, suspended five employees, issued 18 warning notices to employees, assigned onerous work to eight employees, denied employment to one employee-applicant and denied eight employees benefits to which they otherwise would have been entitled,' he said." [Associated Press, 2/27/98]

Negotiations Only Began When New Management Came In

Avondale Industries Was Taken Over By Litton Industries in 1999, And Only Then Did The Company Begin to Deal With the Union. "The tone changed in October 1999 when Avondale was taken over by Litton Industries Inc., which has a unionized shipyard in nearby Pascagoula, Miss." Although the relationship between management and the union was hostile for decades, "new owners and management at the shipyard have changed the nature of the relationship with the yard's blue-collar workers." [AP, 12/7/00, New Orleans Times Picayune, 11/2/99]

• Labor board Upheld unfair labor practices finding. Even though a new company had purchased the shipyard, the NLRB upheld the original decisions of the administrative law judge and ordered the new owners to "reinstate more than two dozen workers, fired before the company's takeover by Litton Industries Inc. The workers were found to be the victims of unfair labor practices by the previous management. The board upheld an administrative law judge's order issued in January 1998 that the company, then known as Avondale Industries Inc., give back pay to the workers." [AP, 11/11/99]

One Day After the Retirement of the Longtime Avondale CEO, Litton Agreed to Allow a Petition Process and Contract Negotiations. The bargaining situation at the shipyard changed immediately after Bossier stepped down: "A day after the retirement of longtime Avondale chief Albert Bossier Jr., a union opponent, Litton agreed with the Metal Trades Council to allow a petition process, certified by an arbitrator. Contract negotiations began in February, two months after an arbitrator ruled that the Metal Trades Council would represent the workers." [AP, 12/7/00]

Seven Years After the Original Election, Avondale Employees Overwhelmingly Approved a Contract. "More than 4,000 Litton Avondale Industries workers got an early gift from Santa Tuesday when company and union officials inked the first labor agreement in the shipbuilder's history. The formal signing of the collective bargaining pact put an end to a labor battle dating back to the 1940s. The contract takes effect Jan. 1 and runs 45 months. Litton Avondale's 4,200 blue-collar employees approved the pact Dec. 6 by a 4-1 margin." [Baton Rouge Advocate, 12/20/00]

• Under the Contract, Workers Received a 3 Percent Pay Hike Immediately. Under the first contract, Workers received wage increases including a "3 percent pay hike Jan. 1 - part of a 9 percent overall increase paid in three increments over the life of the pact. It also allows for additional pay increases based on work skills and seniority, and improves overtime practices and expands vacation time." [Baton Rouge Advocate, 12/20/00]

Additional Example of Delays in First Contract Arbitration

Pilots for Petroleum Helicopters Inc. Waited Nearly a Year for Their First Contract. In June 2001, Petroleum Helicopters Inc. announced "that the membership of the Office & Professionals Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 108 voted overwhelmingly to ratify all terms and conditions of a three (3) year collective bargaining agreement between PHI and its domestic pilots. This agreement is the result of more than 10 months of bargaining between PHI and representatives of the OPEIU." [Business Wire, 6/14/01]

Faith leaders from Shreveport, LA and the surrounding areas gathered together today to rally around the Employee Free Choice Act.

Watch now:

Momentum is building for real reform to take place at Bank of America.

Today thousands of taxpayers will tell Bank of America it's time for reform - and for CEO Ken Lewis to be fired - by gathering at "Take Back the Economy" events around the country. The purpose of these events is to show Bank of America it's time for reform - you can collect "taxpayer proxy cards" that we'll deliver to Bank of America's annual meeting on Wednesday.

What kind of impact does Bank of America have in Louisiana? Here are the facts:

Bank of America is the largest bank in the United States, with an estimated $2.3 trillion in assets and counts almost 1 in 2 households as customers. Bank of America is also the country's second largest issuer of credit cards. In Louisiana, Bank of America is the second largest mortgage lender.

Bank of America is a major small business lender in the state, with more than 3,708 loans to small businesses totaling $50.9 million.

Bank of America has put taxpayers on the hook for as much as $200 billion in bailout money, making it one of the top two recipients.

Bank of America in Louisiana by the numbers:

Mortgages (2007)
Mortgages: 8,343
Mortgage Value: $1.2 billion
Mortgage Rank (2006): 2

Small Business Loans (2007)
Total Small Business Loans: 3,708
Total Small Business Loan Value: $50.9 million

Watson Memorial Church in New Orleans Garden District was the site of a gathering of faith leaders concerned about the issues facing their parishioners. Joining the faith leaders were workers and community organizers advocating for the Employee Free Choice Act. This "Faith Breakfast" brought together workers, faith leaders and organizers to invocate the divine and extol the benefits of the Employee Free Choice Act on communities in and around New Orleans, Louisiana.