Washington (PAI) - After almost a week of pressure from the Obama White House and intense closed-door negotiations, union leaders have decided to drop organized labor's opposition to taxing health insurance. But in return for that agreement, they won concessions from the White House, pushing back the effective date of the 40 percent excise tax to 2018 for workers covered by union contracts, and for state and local government workers.

The tax would kick in for others in 2013. In addition, the tax would not kick in on that portion of individual plans worth less than $8,900 - not $8,000 - and family plans worth less than $24,000 - not $23,000.

Dental and cision benefits would not be counted in those sums, and thus exempt from the tax. Those individual and family figures would afterwards be indexed to inflation, and the initial figures would be higher for plans with huge numbers of women or older workers.

The Machinists and Fire Fighters unions, which were not involved in the talks remained opposed to taxing healthcare.

Union leaders who agreed to the White House demands, included AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, Communications Workers President Larry Cohen, National Education Association President Dennis Can Roekel and Service Employees President Andy Stern.

All were among 11 union leaders who met priately with Obama for two hours last week on the tax. "We will endorse it - and do that proudly," Trumka told a telephone press conference after the Jan. 14 agreement with the White House.

"We've been at this for 60 years and we are extremely proud of the constructive role labor's played in advancing healthcare reform," he said.

"We don't look at this as the end of the fight, but another step in the quest for real reform," Trumka added on the AFL-CIO's blog - the only place the labor federation posted the agreement.

McEntee told reporters: "I didn't have any real hopes for success in this, but I was proven wrong."

AFSCME leaders briefed later on the plan had a favorable reaction to it. But commenters to the AFL-CIO blog posting about it did not. Aides to one union president involved in the meeting with Obama and the talks said the labor leaders concluded the Senate would sink the entire healthcare revision bill unless it included some form of excise tax on health insurance plans.

The week of intense bargaining began with the closed-door Jan. 11 meeting between the Democratic president Barrack Obama and the 11 union leaders.

Other closed-door talks were held throughout the week.

But on a speech earlier on Jan. 11, Trumka reiterated labor's opposition to taxing workers' healthcare benefits. He was backed Jan. 12 by another leader who attended and showed Obama did not get very far - at first. Labor has other problems with the Senate- passed healthcare revision, too, Trumka said in his speech.

They include its lack of a public option to compete with the private insurance companies.

A White House statement called the meeting "an exchange of views" and a "productive discussion about a shared goal": Healthcare reform. the "exchange of views" phrase - at least when used in describing talks with foreign officials - is often a code word for disagreement.

One union president who was in the froup told PAI the next day that the discussion was "business-like" and that after the president laid out his position for the tax, nobody had issued a flat "no".

"But we explained our position against it," the union president said. "Understanding" of labor's position by Obama "was achieved."

The Senate's version of healthcare revision taxes 40 percent of the value of workers' health insurance above minimums of $8,500 annually for an individual and $23,000 for a family.

Labor was dead set against that - a stand Trumka repeated in a nationally-broadcast speech Jan. 11 at the National Press Club. The White House discussion, the other union leader said, included talk of raising those minimums.

And the Senate's idea to raise money specifically for Medicare by a surtax on all income the rich receive - not just on wages - seems to be gaining ground with both the White House and in the House, the leader added. Trumka blamed the healthcare tax on the Senate.

"Thanks to the Senate rules, the appalling irresponsibility of the Senate Republicans and the power of the wealthy among some Democrats, the Senate bill drives a wedge between the middle class and the poor," he said. "Instead of taxing the rich " - as the House-passed healthcare revision would do - "the Senate bill taxes the middle class by taxing workers' health plans." And it's "not just union members' healthcare," Trumka said. "Most of the 31 million insured employees would be hit by the tax are not union members."

Trumka went even farther in comments to the press.

"The Senate bill is inadequate and does not deserve the support of working men and women," he said, adding that union leaders "are meeting with the president as friends to try to solve matters.

"But we aren't going to accept a bad bill just to get an agreement," he said. The "bad bill" Trumka cited is the basis for the final version of healthcare revision.

That's because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had to make many compromises - including taxing healthcare and dumping the public option - to get the 60 Senate Democratic votes needed to halt a GOP filibuster and pass the bill. Besides Trumka, the 10 other union leaders at the White House meeting included Change To Win Chairman Anna Burger, Steel Workers President Leo Gerard, Communications Workers President Larry Cohen, Teachers President Randi Weingarten, AFSCME President Gerry McEntee, IBEW President Ed Hill, Laborers President Terry O'Sullivan, Teamsters President James Hoffa, National Educations Association President Dennis Can Roekel and SEIU President Andrew Stern. Top White House officials had a follow-up meeting with union leaders on Jan. 13.

One union leader was impressed by Obama's grasp of all the details, saying the president "knows more about this than anyone in the room, and we've been doing this stuff for years."

Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger called Obama's support of taxing health insurance benefits "a huge disappointment (that) cannot be ignored" because it breaks Obama's campaign promise not to do so.

"If President Obama continues to support it and signs a bill that includes the excise tax on workers, we will hold him accountable," Schaitberger said.

Trumka struck a similar note on Jan. 11. He said politicians "need a sense of urgency" about real healthcare reform, not just for its own sake but because doing nothing also sabotages job creation.

"If people work for (real healthcare reform and creating jobs) we'll support them," he said. "If they won't work for it, we'll oppose them."