Today, White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein and the White House Office of Public Engagement convened a meeting with labor leaders-including nurses and teachers-on access to health care and workers' rights. Participants shared their experiences of union women advocating and organizing for health care, including reproductive health care. They also discussed the challenges posed by extreme state laws that restrict access to critical reproductive health services and the direct impact these restrictions have on women in the workforce including impact on negotiated health care benefits.
Senior Administration officials underscored the President's commitment to reproductive rights and thanked participants for their leadership and efforts to protect access to reproductive health care in their communities. The Administration also committed to continued engagement and collaboration with these labor leaders.
Participants included:
Jessica Blue, Registered Nurse, SEIU 1199
Elise Bryant, President, Coalition of Labor Union Women
Karla Hernández-Mats, President, United Teachers of Dade
Paula Herbart, President Michigan Education Association
Deborah Burger, President, National Nurses United