Unite Here, a union that represents about 270,000 workers in the service industry, officially endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Tuesday.
The union said the main reason why it was backing her was because Clinton has called for repealing a key part of Obamacare.
“Unite Here is proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. With our endorsement comes our commitment to deliver the swing state of Nevada to her winning campaign,” the union said. The union’s members mainly work for hotels, casinos and other hospitality industries and is particularly strong in Las Vegas and Reno.
In its announcement, Unite Here applauded Clinton for vowing to repeal Obamacare’s so-called “Cadillac tax,” a 40 percent penalty on employer-provided plans with lavish benefits. The White House’s intention was to use the tax revenue from the wealthier plans to finance other parts of the law. However, many plans negotiated by unions will be hit by it as well. Labor leaders fears the tax, which originally was set to go into effect next year but was pushed back to 2020, will cause employers to drop or scale back the plans rather than pay the tax.
“In those negotiated contracts, workers sacrificed billions of dollars in wage increases in order to build, maintain and fund the best and most affordable family health care in America. The federal government now has decided to impose an excise tax on those health benefits. The government wants these working families to pay again for what they have already paid for. Hillary Clinton is committed to work with us and members of the House and Senate in the U.S. Congress to end this double-payment scheme written into the Affordable Care Act by the insurance industry,” the union said.
It added: “Most impressively, we did not have to ask Hillary Clinton to take this position. Indeed, it is just a reflection of her decades-long commitment to affordable health care for working families.”
Organized labor, which fought hard to pass Obamacare, has been worried about the tax’s impact for years. At its 2013 convention, the AFL-CIO labor federation passed a resolution criticizing the law and demanding major changes. They have been fought by the Obama administration, which fears that losing the tax revenue, estimated at $87 billion over a decade, would undermine the law.
It has been an awkward subject for organized labor and the administration, who are allies on virtually every other issue.
Several top unions such as Unite Here, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and the Laborers International Union of North America have joined a coalition group called “Alliance to Fight the 40” that also includes major health insurance companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Cigna and New York Life Insurance Co. to get Congress to repeal the law.
Many plans will be hit. The Kaiser Family Foundation released a study late last year that found that 26 percent of employer-provided plans could be subject to the tax.
