Maria Elena Durazo Responds to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s State of the State Address

(Los Angeles) – Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo issued the following statement today following Governor Schwarzenegger’s State of the State address:

If we are serious about rebuilding the middle class in this state then we must look at solving our health care crisis as a fundamental element in achieving that goal. The reality for many working families is that their healthcare premiums are rising faster than their paychecks and many more are having to pay for the millions of uninsured who work for some of the world’s most profitable employers.

In industry after industry, millions throughout this state are uninsured. In both the construction and leisure and hospitality industries, 32% of the workers in California don’t have health insurance. While we often say that our ports are crucial to the economy, we forget that without port drivers to transport the goods that come in and out of this state, our economy would be nothing. Even so, over 16,000 port drivers in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have no health insurance.

We must put forth solutions that among other things guarantee affordable healthcare for all Californians, improve the quality of care, and contain health care costs. The Governors proposal as outlined yesterday and today in the State of the State include some key elements but comes short of addressing one of the main issues affecting working families, affordability. We can not continue to shift health care costs onto working families if we are serious about providing working families with the health care coverage they need and deserve.”