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Mass. Municipal Health Insurance Reform Getting National Attention

Members of the national Republican Party are saying that Gov. Deval Patrick’s recently imposed limits on union bargaining power are going to hurt the pro-union position of President Obama.

Even though the governor expanded union bargaining power in the final version of the municipal health insurance reform bill, the Republican Party calls it an anti-union maneuver.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO spokesman Tim Sullivan says this is what the governor refers to as "bully politics."

"It’s no wonder the Republicans are using political spin to distract from the fact that they have no solutions," Sullivan said. "The solution here in Massachusetts was to change how unions go about collective bargaining but not to take away bargaining over health insurance."

A spokesman from the Republican Governors Association says, "Massachusetts restrictions on unions underscores the Obama administration’s unwillingness to make the tough choices."

This report was compiled by Pippin Ross for WBUR.

This program aired on July 15, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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