The exact wording by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union's (UFCW) president Joe Hansen, is "the president’s [Obama] statement to labor in 2009 is simply not true for millions of workers," in a recently published op-ed for The Hill.The statement he refers to was made by Obama at the AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh on Sept. 15, 2009:
"If you already have health insurance through your job — and because many of you are members of unions, you do — nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change your coverage or your doctor. Let me repeat: Nothing in this plan will require you to change your coverage or your doctor."
He describes the problems facing the union workers in keeping their present insurance plans and the reasons many won't be able to and concludes:
We’d be open to a legislative fix, but ultimately this is the administration’s responsibility. They are leading the regulatory process. It’s their signature law.The UFCW is not the only union coming out against the Obamacare law, with the the president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Kinsey M. Robinson, calling for "repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act," in a statement issued on April 24, 2013.
We don’t want a handout. Our members want to keep the healthcare they currently have. Let me repeat — our members want to keep the healthcare they currently have. We just want them to be treated fairly.
WASHINGTON, DC—ROOFERS' UNION SEEKS REPEAL/REFORM OF AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Cites Loss of Benefits to Members; Harm to Industry and Multi-employer Health Plans
Washington, DC – United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers International President Kinsey M. Robinson issued the following statement on April 16, 2013, calling for a repeal or complete reform of President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Our Union and its members have supported President Obama and his Administration for both of his terms in office.
But regrettably, our concerns over certain provisions in the ACA have not been addressed, or in some instances, totally ignored. In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the Act's provisions were not fully conceived, resulting in unintended consequences that are inconsistent with the promise that those who were satisfied with their employer sponsored coverage could keep it.
These provisions jeopardize our multi-employer health plans, have the potential to cause a loss of work for our members, create an unfair bidding advantage for those contractors who do not provide health coverage to their workers, and in the worst case, may cause our members and their families to lose the benefits they currently enjoy as participants in multi-employer health plans.
For decades, our multi-employer health and welfare plans have provided the necessary medical coverage for our members and their families to protect them in times of illness and medical needs. This collaboration between labor and management has been a model of success that should be emulated rather than ignored. I refuse to remain silent, or idly watch as the ACA destroys those protections.
I am therefore calling for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act to protect our employers, our industry, and our most important asset: our members and their families.
According to another The Hill article, UNITE HERE, a prominent hotel workers’ union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are also pushing for changes.
These unions and others supported Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections as well as supported the passage of Obamacare.
They, like Democratic members of congress, didn't read the bill to realize the ramifications of passage and like the rest of the country had to watch it get passed by Democrats and signed into law, in order to "see what was in it."
Now, like the majority of Americans who were opposed to the Obamacare law before passage, and still are opposed to it and want it repealed, these unions are discovering they are not pleased with what was in it.
