UNITE HERE forms Group to Stop Health Care Taxes; First Ads Launched

Chicago, IL — UNITE HERE, an organization representing 270,000 working people across North America, today announced the “Working Americans for Affordable Healthcare PAC” to elect candidates who will vote to make our health system more affordable, accessible and cost-effective; help defeat candidates who have or will vote to undermine more affordable healthcare; and to educate the public to vote for those who will act in the interest of our citizen’s health.

“We are taking this extraordinary step to fund a Super PAC for a very simple reason,” said Mike Casey, Chairperson of UNITE HERE’s Health Care Task Force and long-time leader for working families. “We’re going to stop Washington from taxing working families’ health care. For too long, our elected officials have put politics and corporate giveaways ahead of actually making health care more affordable and more accessible for millions of working people. Our Working Americans PAC will target politicians who seek to undermine our health care system by taxing hard-won health insurance”

Working Americans for Affordable Healthcare launched its first initiative today: a series of ads calling on House Republicans in Nevada, Virginia and Florida to reject the “Ryan Plan” for health care taxes. According to Casey, “Speaker Ryan’s answer to Obama Care is to impose crippling taxes that will destroy the employer-based health benefits that protect over 156 million working Americans. We must stop this mindless destruction by defeating the people who vote with Ryan and electing people who will choose to make America healthy again.”

UNITE HERE will start with a six-figure investment in Working Americans for Affordable Healthcare and enlist more donors to strengthen the PAC during this election cycle and beyond.

“Members of Congress like Ryan get first-class healthcare thanks to U.S. taxpayers, and they get it for life, yet they have the audacity to ask those same taxpayers to settle for second-class healthcare,” continued Casey. “Our union has fought for 65 years for healthcare benefits to keep our workers and their families healthy and strong. Our members have often negotiated strong health benefits in lieu of higher wages. Health insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable for American workers. We must elect people who support strong incentives for decent, affordable and accessible healthcare.”

# # #

UNITE HERE is a labor union that represents 270,000 working people across North America in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries.