The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its 40,000 members said goodbye to the AFL-CIO, cutting longtime ties in part because of Obamacare.
ILWU President Robert McEllrath announced the action in a letter to AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumpka, Newsmax reported. In one part, Mr. McEllrath accused the AFL-CIO of “going along to get along” with the White House, citing Obamacare and immigration, among other issues.
The letter stated: “President Obama ran on a platform that he would not tax medical plans and at the 1009 AFL-CIO Convention, you stated that labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits.” But what’s ensued is the AFL-CIO’s support of taxes on “Cadillac” insurance plans — like the Longshoremen have, Newsmax reported.
Moreover, the letter stated, Longshoremen were sick and tired of the AFL-CIO’s position on immigration reform.
“[The] immigration bill you recently asked us to support imposes extremely long waiting periods on the path to citizenship and favors workers with higher education and profitability to corporations, as opposed to the undocumented workers such as janitors and farm workers,” the letter stated.
The Longshoremen have maintained ties with the AFL-CIO since 1988.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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