Sep 14, 2026 · 12 min · 9 segments
This time on Code WACK! Labor unions have spent decades fighting to win good health benefits for their members. And by and large, they have succeeded. The 'union advantage' has been documented…
Years later, Mark became part of an effort to change the direction of the American labor movement itself.
But during the Clinton health care debate of the 1990s, organized labor backed the administration's market-based reform rather than continuing to push for single-payer.
organized grassroots effort to have central labor councils and state federations pass resolutions supporting single-payer health care.
Mark says roughly 49 resolutions ultimately went to the AFL-CIO convention, an extraordinary number focused on a single issue.
So we built this whole grassroots activity that resulted in a resolution that finally put the labor movement back on the right track in terms of its goals for health care reform.
The resolution established support for a national single-payer system as AFL-CIO policy.
And Mark says that mattered because advocates could now walk into local labor organizations with a powerful argument.
Years later, Mark became part of an effort to change the direction of the American labor movement itself.
But during the Clinton health care debate of the 1990s, organized labor backed the administration's market-based reform rather than continuing to push for single-payer.
organized grassroots effort to have central labor councils and state federations pass resolutions supporting single-payer health care.
Mark says roughly 49 resolutions ultimately went to the AFL-CIO convention, an extraordinary number focused on a single issue.
So we built this whole grassroots activity that resulted in a resolution that finally put the labor movement back on the right track in terms of its goals for health care reform.
The resolution established support for a national single-payer system as AFL-CIO policy.
And Mark says that mattered because advocates could now walk into local labor organizations with a powerful argument.
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