Statement by Bricklayers' International President James Boland on Supreme Court Health Care Ruling

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) President James Boland today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling affirming the Affordable Care Act:

"BAC has been an outspoken advocate of health care reform since 1980 when the International Union endorsed then presidential candidate Senator Edward M. Kennedy in part because of Senator Kennedy's commitment to finding legislative solutions to reduce health care costs and make health care within reach of 22 million uninsured Americans.

Nearly three decades later, President Obama championed that commitment with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which is already bringing hope and practical solutions to benefit America's 33 million uninsured and to the working men and women struggling with unsustainable rising health care costs.

BAC applauds the Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of the PPACA and urges Congress and state officials to put their political differences aside to work toward full implementation of the law."

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest continuous union in North America and represents roughly 90,000 skilled masonry-trowel trades craftworkers in the United States and Canada, including bricklayers, tile setters, cement masons, plasterers, stone masons, marble masons, restoration workers, and terrazzo and mosaic workers. www.bacweb.org

SOURCE International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers