With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid poised to announce that the Senate version of health care reform will include a public option that would let states opt-out of the program, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Monday that his members do not want anything less than a "robust" public option provision. "We cannot be in favor of reform for reform's sake," he said. "We have to make sure that reform is real and we have to be honest about that."

When asked if he considers an opt-in or opt-out public option to be robust, Trumka said, "No," adding, "It's on its way. It's not there yet."

During a call with reporters scheduled by the AFL-CIO, Trumka laid out his organization's primary positions in the health care debate, including a call for a full-fledged public option, an employer mandate for covering workers and no tax on high-dollar health plans, which many of his union members enjoy. Unlike the House plan, the Senate Finance Committee bill included a tax of up to 40 percent on health insurance plans over a baseline cost.

"It's bad policy, it's bad politics, and it's totally unacceptable to put the cost of health care reform on the backs of working families," Trumka said of the benefits tax, but he added that he would consider a benefits tax if it did not hit middle class taxpayers. "If you show me a definition of a Cadillac plan that hits the Cadillac plans and not the middle class, then we'd take a look at that, of course."

Instead of paying for the plan by taxing benefits, Trumka said that the surtax on the wealthy that the House has proposed, combined with a public option, would raise enough revenue to expand health insurance in the United States to those who need it. "They're asking us to subsidize employers who don't pay their fair share and to maintain the status quo for the rich and to subsidize insurance companies' profits," he said. "There's a better way to do it."

With 11.5 million members, the AFL-CIO is not a constituency that Democratic officials can afford to ignore. So far, members have mailed 42,000 letters to members of Congress, made 30,000 phone calls, and are planning a "Day of Action" to flood Capitol Hill offices with their positions on health care reform.

The overt pressure from labor organizations on the left, combined with concerns over the effect of health care reform on the deficit, aired by moderate Democratic senators on the right, demonstrate how difficult it will be for Reid to craft a plan that will garner enough support in the Senate to get a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority.

When asked specifically what the AFL-CIO will do if Sen. Reid presents a reform plan this week with a limited public option, Trumka said, "I don't think we're going to have to face that. I think we're going to get a good public option with a fair way to finance this thing...but we'll see when we get to that time whether it's close enough or it isn't close enough. We'll see."

Reid and Nancy Pelosi are both expected to announce the parameters of their chambers' reform bills this week.