Union support for Bernie shows why he’s the only M4A candidate

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As we head into 2020, we have everything to gain and the polls to back it up: support for Sen. Sanders is growing in key states like New Hampshire, and voters consistently say he’s the candidate they trust most to enact Medicare for All in office. This is an unprecedented moment in history where the United States could see a Sanders presidency, and Medicare for All is closer to reality than ever before. Working alongside dozens of other coalition organizations, thousands of socialists in DSA chapters across the country have spent countless hours this year organizing events, door-knocking, phone banking and talking to their friends and neighbors about Medicare for All. We know we’ll have to fight much harder in 2020, but it’s clear our hard work is paying off. Please remember to forward this issue to everyone you know interested in Medicare for All and in Bernie's political revolution and get them to subscribe so we can hit the ground running in January.

Big pay-offs have come lately in the form of major union support for Sanders and his Medicare for All plan. National Nurses United endorsed Bernie for president in November, counting his “trailblazing leadership” on “Medicare for All” as one of the reasons for their endorsement. NNU is a leader in the fight for Medicare for All nationally, and support from the nation’s largest nurses union speaks volumes about which candidate has the trust of working-class people to enact Medicare for All and fundamentally disrupt the status quo.

Nurses aren’t the only ones backing Bernie — United Teachers Los Angeles, the second-largest teachers’ local in the country, overwhelmingly voted to support Sanders’ run for president. Union members voted to endorse Sanders not only because he has “the most comprehensive, progressive plan for public education among the candidates,” but also because his platform “aligns with our values on a range of issues, including rebuilding the US labor movement and winning Medicare for All.”

NNU and UTLA are the two most recent large unions to endorse Bernie, with more joining daily. Shoutout to the APWU of New Hampshire, who endorsed Sanders on December 6th, and IBEW Local 1634 in Iowa, who also recently endorsed. These unions follow the lead of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which was the first major union to endorse him in August. The fact that more than 150,000 nurses, 36,000 electrical workers and machinists, 34,000 public school teachers, New Hampshire postal workers and many other locals have endorsed Bernie Sanders and his Medicare for All plan sends a crystal clear message about who is truly on the side of working people and committed to taking the profit motive out of healthcare.

Contrast those endorsements to what happened in the stock market when Elizabeth Warren announced her “Medicare for All” plan: managed-care and hospital stocks actually rose more than 5 percent after notably slumping for the first nine months of 2019. Capital knows that Warren is no threat, which means she is no friend of ours.

In 2020 we need to maintain the momentum we’ve built while remaining uncompromising and steadfast in our demands: we’re fighting for Medicare for All and nothing less.