Houston, Texas. IAMAW Local Lodge 2339H in Houston, representing 5,000
flight attendants at Continental and Express Jet Airlines, is the
500th union organization to endorse HR 676, single payer healthcare
legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

Christine Diaz, the Local’s Legislative Committee Chairperson, said:
“It was important for our local to stand in solidarity with the
hundreds of other labor organizations who have already endorsed HR
676. We are going to win this fight at the grass roots level, and it
is going to take educating not only our members, but the general
public, on the truth about single payer health care.”

Rosalie Canton, President of Local Lodge 2339H, said: “When our
membership has to stop work for whatever reason, it is not uncommon to
hear, ‘Well, I will just have to risk not having health insurance for
three months. I cannot afford to pay for COBRA.’ The system must
change so that your health insurance is not tied to your employer. It
just doesn’t work anymore.”

The Legislative Committee has met with Rep. Gene Green but has not yet
secured his agreement to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 676.

HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system by expanding
a greatly improved Medicare system to everyone residing in the U. S.

HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care
including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services,
primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental
health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for
substance abuse), vision care, hearing services including hearing
aids, chiropractic, durable medical equipment, palliative care, and long term care.

HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save hundreds
of billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of
the private health insurance industry and HMOs.

In the current Congress, HR 676 has 72 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers.

HR 676 has been endorsed by 500 union organizations in 49 states
including
123 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 state
AFL-CIO’s (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC,
MO, MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA,
AK, MI, MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).

For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample
endorsement resolution, contact:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care–HR 676 c/o Nurses
Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org
03/30/09