Labor unions initially were some of the largest voices in support of Obamacare, but now like the rest of the country, their support is waning. UNITE HERE, a labor union with over 300,000 members, released a new report on Friday critical of Obamacare, saying that the law is actually harmful to workers and increases inequality.
The report, titled “The Irony of ObamaCare: Making Inequality Worse,” claims that the law has had a slew of “unintended consequences” that hurt American workers.
Outlining the implications of Obamacare, the report predicts that employers will continue to cut workers’ hours in order to avoid providing mandated coverage for full time employees. Moreover, it observes, “if employers follow the incentives in the law, they will push families onto the exchanges to buy coverage. This will force low-wage service industry employees to spend $2.00, $3.00 or even $5.00 an hour of their pay to buy similar coverage.” Perhaps of greatest concern to UNITE HERE, the ACA threatens to ‘strangle’ competition and place union-created health care plans into a “death spiral” because participants in those plans, i.e. the union’s members, will not receive subsidies as many who buy coverage through the health exchanges will.
UNITE HERE is not the only union who has backpedaled on their support of Obamacare. Other unions have expressed displeasure with the botched rollout and the disastrous effects the law has had on workers.
It’s a sad truth how people are realizing far too late how damaging this law is.
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