Local 3005 endorses New York Health Act
The votes are in! Of the 139 members who voted in our poll, 86% were in favor of endorsing the New York Health Act. Thanks to everyone who participated in the vote! We are a democratic, member-led local and your voices were heard loud and clear that we support universal healthcare for all New Yorkers.
To read coverage of our local’s endorsement, click here to check out today’s Morning Playbook in Politico. There is no paywall but email address required to login; scroll down to “Single-payer push”
Press release is below.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
June 18, 2026
DC 37 LOCAL 3005 ENDORSES THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT
Rank and file members vote to affirm their support for the bill to enact a single-payer universal healthcare program for all New Yorkers that is being blocked by public sector union leaders.
(New York City, NY) Rank and file DC 37 Local 3005 members this week passed a vote to endorse the New York Health Act (NYHA).
As scientific staff at the NYC Health Department and Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Local 3005 members touch nearly every part of the city's public health infrastructure — and they are watching the current system fail in real time.
Public sector unions are cited by New York lawmakers as the primary reason that NYHA, which would guarantee comprehensive healthcare for every New Yorker, has not been passed into law. Local 3005 affirms rank and file support for the bill with 86% of participating members voting in favor, leading the way for other locals and the public sector unions to follow.
As families and communities suffer, the healthcare affordability and access crisis in New York is quickly worsening. One million New Yorkers do not have health insurance. In less than two weeks, 450,000 New Yorkers will lose Essential Plan coverage. Next year, onerous Medicaid work requirements and biannual eligibility recertifications will go into effect. New York lawmakers in Albany have done nothing to address these disastrous federal cuts and insurer greed, failing to protect New Yorkers and putting healthcare infrastructure in jeopardy, leaving even more New Yorkers to fend for themselves.
As workers who see this crisis up close through their work every day, Local 3005 members are mobilizing in support of decisive, transformative change.
“Our members are tired of concessions on wages to keep our health care. We need a sustainable solution that takes profits out of the hands of health insurance CEOs and invests instead back into our communities,” said Local 3005 President, Meghan Peterson
“I had pain in my abdomen that I was scared to get checked because I couldn’t afford the urgent care copay despite having health insurance,” said Local 3005 Trustee Adeeba A. Khan. “Eventually, the pain was so intolerable that I had to go to the ER, where I learned that my gallbladder was full of stones and about to burst. With the New York Health Act, there would be no copays, and I could have been seen immediately before the pain disrupted my life and I needed emergency surgery.”
“The current system of tying health benefits to employment creates opportunities for discriminatory bias against parents and caregivers,” said Local 3005 member Mamta Karani. “Working mothers and caregivers like me are forced to sacrifice when balancing our own ambitions, childcare, and quality of life with the health needs of our family. To keep health insurance for our families, many of us are forced to come back to work from family leave even if circumstances are not optimal.”
“Many of us are research scientists who see in our data that lack of healthcare drives health inequities,” said Local 3005 Executive Board Member Sarah McKenney. “We will not stand by without demanding structural change that can make a real impact on our health and the health of our fellow New Yorkers.”
Union leadership objections to the bill are baseless, rooted in misinformation, and refutable. Under the New York Health Act;
Every New Yorker will get better benefits, including dental, vision, hearing, mental health - andLong Term Care, that no union-negotiated or private plan covers, with no means testing or vesting requirements, and no coverage gaps from layoffs, strikes, contract negotiation delays or switching jobs.
NYHA eliminates all premiums, deductibles, copays, surprise bills, prior-authorizations, restrictive networks, and all future medical debt for all New Yorkers.
All employers in New York must pay at least 80% of the tax on payroll income. This means, for union members who don’t currently have premium-free healthcare, NYHA will raise the floor and make it easier for their unions to bargain for the employer to pay the remaining 20%.
New York municipal workers who currently have premium-free healthcare will have their New York Health tax covered at 100%. If a public employer currently covers above 80%, the employer will pay that same percentage of the tax, ensuring that public union members won’t lose anything previously negotiated.
No more wages sacrificed for health benefits. NYHA provides much better comprehensive benefits, guaranteed by law, and takes healthcare off the bargaining table for good, so unions can freely negotiate for higher wages, better working conditions and other benefits, without threat of losing care.
NYHA will empower and free workers from staying locked in jobs they hate, with abusive employers or in dangerous workplaces, just to keep their health insurance.
Many unions strongly support the bill including NYSNA NY State Nurses Association, UAW Region 9 & 9A, 1199SEIU, Doctors Council, PSC CUNY, CIR SEIU, and more.
Unions are guaranteed seats on the governing board of the New York Health plan, and will be a significant part of the process helping set up, manage and monitor the program as major stakeholders with decades of experience administering health benefits for workers. Unions have significant clout they can leverage to be appointed to additional seats beyond those that are already designated. No opposing union, including DC37, has stated the number of seats that they would find satisfactory.
Federal waivers and approval are not needed to enact the bill.
All retirees living full time in New York will be fully covered under the NYHA, with no more cost sharing, Medicaid Part D supplement payments, or predatory for-profit Medicare Advantage plans. Nothing will change for municipal union retirees living full time out of state, who will continue to receive the benefits to which they are now entitled.
Over 90% of all New Yorkers will pay less under NYHA than they spend now for health insurance and care. NY overall will save $60 billion gross / $20 billion net annually compared to the current wasteful, profit-prioritizing system. A new white paperand all existing financial analyses, including by RAND, show that we are overpaying for healthcare, and NYHA includes significant savings for counties, municipalities, school districts, and individuals.
NYC alone will save $13.6 billion dollars annually. That is 12.1% of the total city budget.
The endorsement vote was first reported by Politico New York. Read the full coverage here.
Available for interview:
Local 3005 members and other rank and file union members to speak on the record about what they see on the ground
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, the bill's sponsor and Chair of the Senate Health Committee
Former Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, author and champion of NYHA over decades in office
Cheryl Cashin, co-author of the new white paper: Fiscal Impacts of the New York Health Act on Counties, Municipalities, and School Districts
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About Local 3005:DC 37 Local 3005 represents approximately 1,200 NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner and NYC Health Department employees including Administrative Public Health Nurses, Architects, Chemists, City Research Scientists, Civil Engineers, Criminalists, Graphic Artists, Scientists in Radiological Health, Space Analysts, Supervisors of Mechanical Installations and Maintenance, and Water Ecologists. Local 3005 is part of District Council 37, NYC's largest public employee union, representing 150k members and 89k retirees.
CONTACT: Sarah McKenney, mckenney.local3005@gmail.com