Jobs and Health Care
Health care benefits have dropped, while costs have risen tremendously. The most interesting phenomenon is that industry has been feeling the brunt of the health care crisis. To insure their workers, General Motors had to raise the price of their cars an extra $1,500 per car. These costs get translated to the marketplace and really have an effect on our competitiveness internationally.
Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President of the Economic Policy Institute says that General Motors claims they will not make commitments to the United Automobile Workers to keep the 73,000 jobs that are left at GM in the United States. They’re interested in continuing to move jobs to Mexico, China, Eastern Europe, or Russia. The UAW says that they’re making concessions and point out that they’re the most productive workers in the world. They are the most productive, but the problem is that GM has tremendous retiree health benefit, which our government could help with. Employees, who felt secure about their health care, in the early 1990’s no longer feel secure.
Many retired auto workers are living on health care that they negotiated, when they worked at GM. Many corporations are discarding these responsibilities, by using bankruptcy to dump their health care liabilities. The UAW has fought to preserve benefits for 350,000 people, who are no longer working in the plants.
Consequently, many in the business community are interest in bring about major changes, with the right leadership in the White House. We need national health insurance, in order to lift that obligation off the back of General Motors and similar industry, so that they can keep these middle class jobs in America. Once that happens, GM will be able to produce cars competitively.
It’s been predicted that if GM is able to bust the union, their stock will increase five fold in America, but getting stock up as high as you can, hasn’t done anything for the middle class in America. Ninety percent of Americans have seen their share of national income go down by 270 billion dollars in the last three years.
Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President of the Economic Policy Institute says that General Motors claims they will not make commitments to the United Automobile Workers to keep the 73,000 jobs that are left at GM in the United States. They’re interested in continuing to move jobs to Mexico, China, Eastern Europe, or Russia. The UAW says that they’re making concessions and point out that they’re the most productive workers in the world. They are the most productive, but the problem is that GM has tremendous retiree health benefit, which our government could help with. Employees, who felt secure about their health care, in the early 1990’s no longer feel secure.
Many retired auto workers are living on health care that they negotiated, when they worked at GM. Many corporations are discarding these responsibilities, by using bankruptcy to dump their health care liabilities. The UAW has fought to preserve benefits for 350,000 people, who are no longer working in the plants.
Consequently, many in the business community are interest in bring about major changes, with the right leadership in the White House. We need national health insurance, in order to lift that obligation off the back of General Motors and similar industry, so that they can keep these middle class jobs in America. Once that happens, GM will be able to produce cars competitively.
It’s been predicted that if GM is able to bust the union, their stock will increase five fold in America, but getting stock up as high as you can, hasn’t done anything for the middle class in America. Ninety percent of Americans have seen their share of national income go down by 270 billion dollars in the last three years.
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