This week in the War on Workers: SEIU resolves to bargain for trans-inclusive health care

Mary Kay Henry (SEIU)

The SEIU held its convention from May 28-30. The union's president, Mary Kay Henry, was unanimously reelected by delegates. Delegates also:

[...] endorsed a comprehensive program to engage in unprecedented levels of coordination with strategic partners and to recruit, train and mobilize more than 100,000 member-leaders across the union who will reach out to friends, neighbors and co-workers to demand justice for the 99%.

On Thursday, The Bilerico Project's Bil Browning reported from the convention that:

During yesterday's gathering the delegates passed a resolution that the many SEIU locals bargain for trans-inclusive heath care as part of their contracts. The SEIU International offices already offer trans-inclusive health care benefits to employees.

I went to watch as the delegates debated the issue and came away incredibly impressed. While I expected there to be push back on the measure, instead it was brought to the floor and the delegates were allowed 40 minutes to debate. Every single person who got up to speak was in favor of the resolution; no one spoke in opposition. It easily passed.

Having SEIU locals bargaining for trans-inclusive health care is a step toward such care not being so difficult to get'the more employers, the more insurance programs, the more doctors who are expected to be trans-inclusive, the more likely people who don't have SEIU bargaining for their health care will be to find those doctors.