Tom with CNA members
CHICAGO – The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee today endorsed Tom Geoghegan for Congress, citing “his lifelong support for working people and his accomplishments in gaining pensions and health care on their behalf.”
CNA/NNOC announced the endorsement at their Illinois offices at 850 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago.
“This is no time for old politics – we need new leaders in Congress who can deliver real change,” said Frank Borgers, Legislative Analyst, NNOC. “Tom Geoghegan is a fresh new voice in politics, a true fighter for economic and healthcare security for working people. He has the vision and principles Congress so desperately needs during these troubled times.”
CNA/National Nurses Organizing Committee represents approximately 1,500 Cook County nurses. In Illinois, CNA/NNOC has led the fight to save the Cook County Health System and played a leadership role within the Emergency Network to Save Cook County Health Services - a coalition of over 70 advocacy groups that successfully eliminated President Stroger’s direct control of the health system by establishing an independent board of directors to oversee governance of the system in 2008.
“In looking at this crowded field of candidates, there is only one real choice for labor,” said Borgers. “Tom Geoghegan supports single-payer national health and is unmatched in his support for working people. He has dedicated his professional life to protecting pensions and securing health care for working families in Chicago and throughout the country.”
Last month, Geoghegan announced a settlement with Advocate Health Care that will provide free and low cost health care for the uninsured and under-insured in Chicago. The settlement ended a court case stemming from a lawsuit filed alleging that the hospital failed to provide appropriate charity care and reduced price care to uninsured and under-insured patients.
“Throughout Chicagoland and across the nation, CNA and the National Nurses Organizing Committee are fighting for working people on the issues of wages, health care, and job security. They are the single greatest advocates of single-payer health care reform, a charge that I will lead in Congress,” said Tom Geoghegan. “I am honored by their endorsement.”
As a labor lawyer, Tom has fought for nurses, teachers, machinists, and other union members, as well as workers who lack the protection of a union. He has also represented Teamsters for a Democratic Union and other union rank-and-file groups seeking to root out corruption and strengthen union democracy. His efforts have helped secure health care, pensions, and lost wages for thousands of working Americans.
