AFL-CIO Opposes State Question 793
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s largest federation of organized labor, the AFL-CIO of Oklahoma, has announced it is actively opposing State Question 793, a Walmart-backed proposal to allow big retail giants to open optometry clinics. The AFL-CIO represents approximately 100,000 working Oklahomans, including teachers, firefighters, engineers, pilots, public employees, doctors and nurses, painters, plumbers and many other diverse professions. AFL-CIO of Oklahoma President Jimmy Curry said the group’s opposition is tied to Walmart and other retail giants’ history of unethical and unfair treatment of workers. “Walmart doesn’t pay its workers a living wage, doesn’t give them the benefits they deserve and generally exhibits a lack of respect for its own employees and the labor force at large,” said Curry. “Why would we want to expand that kind of abusive behavior into optometry? “This is a company that cares about profits for shareholders and their own bottom line, not their customers or employees. The last thing we want to see is a company like that practicing medicine in Oklahoma. Their values are incompatible with good patient care or quality medical services,” said Curry. Eye doctors across the state of Oklahoma and across the country have united in opposition to State Question 793, saying the proposal would allow a non-medical corporation to dictate how medical care is delivered. “Walmart wants to make this about buying cheap eye glasses, but it is about so much more than that,” said Dr. Joseph Phillips of Oklahoma City. “At my practice, I diagnose and care for degenerative diseases like glaucoma that cause blindness if they are left untreated. That’s not a big profit-driver; it’s just the right thing to do and the right way to practice medicine. If Walmart gets its way, that kind of care will fall by the wayside while corporate giants work to sell as many glasses as possible. Ultimately, that will be very bad for patients and for health.” Voters can find more information about the negative impacts of State Question 793 at no793.com.
Oklahoma’s largest federation of organized labor, the AFL-CIO of Oklahoma, has announced it is actively opposing State Question 793. The AFL-CIO represents approximately 100,000 working Oklahomans, including teachers, firefighters, engineers, pilots, public employees, doctors and nurses, painters, plumbers and many other diverse professions.
