Health-care legislation remains front and center, as the White House works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reconcile House and Senate versions of the bill. Union and nonunion groups are concerned about the direction in which the negotiations seem to be going.

Unions don’t like the Senate bill’s tax on “Cadillac” health plans, and 10 union leaders met with President Obama on Jan. 11 to discuss their concerns. Those present included top officials of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America and the AFL-CIO. Union leaders agreed not to comment publicly on what transpired at the meeting, says a spokesman for one of the participating unions.

Earlier on Jan. 11, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a speech, “The labor movement is fighting with everything we’ve got to win health-care reform that is worthy of the support of working men and women.”