Portside

The AFL-CIO isn’t lifting a finger to help the White House — it remains in negotiations at the White House and on Capitol Hill to change elements of the law it finds objectionable to workers. Those talks were put on hold earlier this month during the government shutdown — a far larger concern for the federal government employee unions — and have begun to restart only in recent days, according to officials from multiple unions.

Many union leaders have come to the conclusion that the Affordable Care Act contains provisions that may seriously undermine collectively bargained health insurance plans covering millions of their members. In addition, union leaders are angry over the Obama administration's willingness to relax rules for employer mandated coverage while ignoring the threat posed to full-time workers by making a 30 hour work week the threshold for mandatory insurance coverage.

ILWU members see turf battles with rival unions as an additional, unwelcome hurdle to surmount, in an already difficult employer battle.

The Affordable Care Act may create serious problems for workers covered by negotiated health insurance plans.