The nearly 400 members of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 212 in Buffalo, N.Y.,  who were  locked out by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York since April 26, will be going back to work after ratifying a new contract today.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts to help locked-out workers in Buffalo, N.Y.

When nearly 400 members of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 212 in Buffalo, N.Y., were locked out by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, the area union Rapid Response team began meeting to determine the best ways to help the locked-out workers and their families. AFL-CIO Community Services liaisons Mary Martino and Bill Jakobi, active participants in the team, helped educate the locked-out employees on available assistance programs, including unemployment insurance and other support programs.

Since April 26, nearly 400 members of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 212 in Buffalo have been locked out by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York. You can help in their fight for justice and a fair contract by telling parent company HealthNow CEO Alphonso O’Neil-White to “Do the right thing—stop the lock out.”

How’s this for a demonstration of cause and effect?

Cause—Yesterday, some 200 activists, led by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) rallied outside Blue Shield’s San Francisco corporate headquarters to protest the health insurance giant’s premium hikes of as much as 59 percent for California consumers.

A new study by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) finds that California’s largest private insurance companies continue to deny more than one-fourth of all claims and two firms rejected about 40 percent of submitted claims.