Healthcare a major topic for candidates

More than 17,000 spectators gathered at Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago Aug. 7 to watch seven Democratic presidential hopefuls tackle the issues that are foremost on the minds of America’s working families.

Sen. Joseph Biden, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Christopher Dodd, former Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Bill Richardson fielded questions during the 96-minute presidential forum hosted by the AFL-CIO, moderated by Keith Olbermann, broadcast live by MSNBC and XM Satellite Radio, and watched by 960,000 people. The result was a debate that gave the labor movement and working families a national audience on such issues as the right to organize a union, retirement security and the healthcare crisis.

Barbara Janusiak, an intensive care unit nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee and treasurer of Local 5001 of the AFT-affiliated Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, posed one of several questions on healthcare, challenging the candidates to discuss what they would do about the nearly 50 million people in this nation who lack health insurance. Shirley Forpe, who is an Illinois Federation of Teachers executive vice president and president of the Northwest Suburban Teachers Union, submitted a question online, asking what changes the candidates believe must be made to the No Child Left Behind Act.

The healthcare crisis, including the problem of employees who lose their healthcare coverage when their jobs are outsourced or when their employers go bankrupt, was a central concern of many who posed questions. Among the most poignant was one from retired steelworker Steve Skvara of Union Township, Ind., who described how his pension was cut by one-third when his company went bankrupt and how he can no longer afford healthcare coverage for his wife.

The presidential candidates addressed a broad range of topics during the forum, including the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The AFL-CIO executive council agreed not to endorse any individual candidate at this time, but noted that internationals are free to make an endorsement in the primaries.