FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- While presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain prepared to attend a fundraiser at the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale Resort, a small group of labor union members gathered outside to protest his proposed health care plan.

The Fort Lauderdale chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is calling on McCain to abandon his proposed health care plan, which they claim will saddle working families with an additional tax, give insurance company's more control of people's health care and do nothing to expand coverage to the uninsured.

AFL-CIO members are also challenging the Arizona senator's claim that his proposal represents a departure from President George W. Bush's administration.

"John McCain may say he stands for responsible reform, but his health care plan to enrich big insurance companies while continuing the Bush policy of ignoring the 47 million Americans who cannot afford health insurance says otherwise," Broward County Central Labor Council President Dan Reynolds said in a statement. "Florida working families need health care reform that will give them a leg up in the souring economy, not another break for corporations and lobbyists."

McCain is in South Florida as part of a three-day tour of the state. He held a fundraiser Wednesday night in St. Petersburg and spoke at a meeting of Florida newspaper editors Thursday in Orlando.