South Milwaukee Speaks About Health Care Reform

Pam Stiglitz (above), president of the Oak Creek Paraprofessional Aides, speaks at a South Milwaukee news conference calling on the city to place a health care reform advisory referendum on the November ballot. Stiglitz said the aides in her bargaining unit get no health insurance and have little or no prospect of having access to affordable health care unless the health care system is reformed.

Doug Perry (bottom picture), president of the Greenfield Education Association and a resident of South Milwaukee, says teachers see firsthand the effects of children and their families not having access to health care due to skyrocketing health care costs.

Citizens delivered a petition signed by more than 1,500 people supporting the referendum. The petition asks for an advisory referendum instructing the Legislature to guarantee health care as good as what is provided to state legislators. Other organizations represented at the event were Citizen Action of Wisconsin, WEAC, the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, SEIU, and local citizens such as a firefighter, nurses, educators, and a small business owner.

Later, local residents turned in more than 2,000 signatures to place the same referendum on the ballot in Oak Creek. Both Milwaukee suburbs will be joining other citizens who have turned in signatures across the state in Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Viroqua, and Altoona.

Posted August 13, 2008