New Developments With HEM

We have done some writing on this blog about the Health Engagement Model (HEM) and many readers have responded.

Recently AOCE, the law firm that represents corrections workers in Oregon, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Employment Relations Board (ERB) seeking to block HEM. AFSCME, the union which competes with AOCE in corrections, apparently filed a similar complaint. They could have saved time and trouble: under ERB this is a prohibited subject for collective bargaining. Not permissive--prohibited.

The rumor mill started and has been working overtime. Word had it that these were lawsuits, not unfair labor practice charges, and that HEM was blocked, either temporarily or permanently. None of that was true.

What this has done is given us an object lesson in how workers are exploited and oppressed through a specific rule-making and legal process. We can't bargain HEM through our unions, although labor has severasl seats on the PEBB board, and we're blocked by the Big Pharma and medical and political establishments for the time being from winning national healthcare which would take care of our healthcare needs. Our jobs are structured in ways which work to make us unhealthy but PEBB expects--demands--that we get fully healthy. It can be said that we're hemmed in.

It would be interesting if a group of state workers on the Capitol Mall who object to HEM were to begin a conversation with the Occupy Salem folks about common issues and a united strategy. What if the occupy movement moved into state worksites or into PEBB?

This is unlikely to happen, of course. But we need an occupy movement which reaches deep into workplaces and more deeply into the working class. Occupy Salem would be wise to approach state workers and look for points of agreement and solidarity.

In all of the talk about HEM some important details have been lost. For instance, some labor leaders and activists--and we have covered this on this blog--have done well in speaking out against HEM and have won some positive changes and more PEBB meetings. This is all for the good. Also, HEM has to be seen in the context of larger changes coming to public employee and Oregon healthcare over the next decade. We will see a more integrated system evolving if the Republicans and the economic crisis don't completely gut healthcare first. In the long run HEM could evolve into something positive that creates more skilled jobs and grows the public sector in positive ways. Right now it pretty much sucks.

What do socialists have to say about HEM? Read our blog. We oppose anything which rests on compulsion by the bosses, be they public or private sector. We oppose anything which divides workers, or has the potential to, as HEM does. We support the eloquent voices which have risen to publicly oppose HEM from among the workers. We supported the passage of the Local 503 DAS contract because it was a step forward and because it was not linked to HEM. We support the most integrated of all healthcare systems--national healthcare. We hope that in two years public workers will lead a united strike and win back what has been lost.