Joe Biden courts union members in Las Vegas

Dec. 11--Chad Neanover, a cook at a Strip restaurant, took a deep breath when he spoke about his wife's experiences in the hospital. The health insurance negotiated by the union made it as painless as possible, he said.

He asked former Vice President Joe Biden, running as a center-left Democratic candidate in the 2020 election, about the 40% "Cadillac tax" -- its implementation has been delayed -- on certain employer-provided private insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.

"I want to keep what I have. It's amazing; it's great," he later said of his insurance plan. "But I do want to see health care for everyone."

Biden said he was confident the Cadillac tax, which has already been repealed in the House, would be repealed in the Senate.

"Where I come from, I don't like people telling me what I have to choose," Biden said. "So the 160 million people who have busted their neck, walked down picket lines, gave up pay, took hits in order to get significant health care available, you get to keep it under my plan."

Biden was speaking at a town hall hosted by UNITE HERE, the national union affiliate of the local Culinary Union.

Biden's event is the third held by UNITE HERE this week, after visits from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Biden has courted union support and received the first major union endorsement of the 2020 election cycle from the International Association of Fire Fighters days after his campaign announcement. He stressed the importance of organized labor at today's event, bemoaning the decline of union power since the beginning of his political career in the 1970s.

"There used to be a basic bargain, that if you contributed to the welfare of the outfit you worked with, whether it was a hotel, casino, whether it was an electric company, whatever it was, you got to share the benefits," he said. "If they did well, you got part of it."

Biden came down hard on businesses that engage in union-busting activities, saying he would support fines against owners personally in some cases. "I guarantee you, that'll get their attention, their focus," he said.

On immigration, Biden said he would do "a lot" differently than former President Barack Obama, including investing in countries sending refugees to the United States. He pushed back strongly against separating families at the border.

"It should be all about family unification," he said.

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