VIDEO: 5,000 Activists Take the Fight for Reform Right to Insurance Companies’ Doorstep

In DC yesterday, thousands of union members and health care activists from across the progressive movement took the fight for health care reform right to insurance companies’ doorstep. The massive protest started with a march from Dupont Circle to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 22nd and M Street, NW, led by more than 50 major labor organizations, health care reform activists, faith leaders, and 25 survivors of health insurance abuse.

Protesters flooded the streets and surrounded the site of the insurance lobbyists’ annual conference, where progressive leaders issued a peaceful citizens’ arrest of the insurance companies–while the dozens of law enforcement officials tried to rein in the huge crowd. Several progressive leaders who stood up on behalf of reform were escorted away by police (including SEIU’s Anna Burger and Dr. Toni L. Lewis).

It was truly a magnificent show of solidarity for reform. Watch this video footage for a taste of yesterday’s huge action:

More ways you can relive the March 9th citizens’ arrest of insurance companies after the jump.

Photos:

On Twitter:

  • The hashtag we created for today’s action, #m9, has been blowing up on Twitter all day. It’s been Twittered over 600 times so far, and it’s still going strong. Read the #m9 tweets here.
  • We live tweeted today’s action–check it out here.

Via media coverage & blogs:

Recap of what went down during the march on SEIU.org here.

More coverage also at Huffington Post, NY Times, Washington Post, DCist

More than 10,000 people have taken online action against insurance lobbyists on www.citizensposse.com, and sent over 2,500 faxes to the insurance companies’ fax machines so far. We know not everyone could be in DC to confront insurance lobbyists yesterday, but it’s not too late to do your part by spreading the message.

*This post originally appeared in SEIU Blog on March 10, 2010. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author: Kate Thomas is a blogger, web producer and new media coordinator at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a labor union with 2.1 million members in the healthcare, public and property service sectors. Kate’s passions include the progressive movement, the many wonders of the Internet and her job working for an organization that is helping to improve the lives of workers and fight for meaningful health care and labor law reform. Prior to working at SEIU, Katie worked for the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) as a communications/public relations coordinator and editor of AMSA’s newsletter appearing in The New Physician magazine.

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Madeline Messa

Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.