For the past five years, GM has made record profits. Because of this success, the company has managed to pay their CEO, Mary T. Barra, $21.87 million in total compensation in 2018, while paying very little, if any, in federal tax. While in negotiation with the UAW Worker union, the union suddenly decided to walk out. Why? Well, even though they've made record profits and are able to pay their CEO this exorbitant salary, wages for the workers have remained low, leadership has closed multiple plants putting thousands of people out of work while decimating the local communities at the same time. On top of that, instead of hiring more full-time employees, they've left them as "temporary workers" so they can keep their benefits low. It makes sense that the workers would want these conditions to improve. So, early on Monday, September 16, the union decided to strike. Some 48,000 members walked off factory floors and set up picket lines. They joined the Aramark-employed janitors, also striking against GM, on picket lines outside of Detroit.
This strike is estimated to cost GM about $100 million a day. One would think that GM would change their stance to bring UAW back to the table, and they have. GM says that it is now offering pay raises and $7 billion worth of factory investments that would result in 5,400 new positions. They've offered profit sharing, and an $8000 payment to each worker once the new contract is in place. The workers union say that this is not enough. GM made $8 billion last year alone, and the workers want a bigger piece of what GM has offered. The workers also want annual pay raises to guard against any type of recession that may hit, but the company only offered lump sums tied to salaries. The union also wants to close the labor gap with plants run by other automakers. Currently, workers at GM make $13 per hour less than their counterparts.
I side with the workers here. Your CEO is making almost $22 million. You made $8 billion. Give up a larger piece of that pie. Stop being greedy. That's just my opinion. How does GM feel about this? Well, GM has suddenly decided to play hard ball.
The Washington Post reports that GM has announced that it is cutting off health benefits for striking workers. They're using people's healthcare as leverage to get them to bend during negotiation. Way to go GM, that'll teachem! This is pathetic and disgusting. People absolutely need healthcare, there's no way around this. GM knows this which makes this ploy absolutely despicable. Bernie Sanders was right. Bernie is right. Elizabeth Warren is right to follow Bernie’s lead. Medicare for All is the solution to this type of nefarious positioning. Joe Biden once argued that Medicare for All would take away the healthcare of unions who broke their necks to negotiate benefits. What now Joe? GM took their hard fought healthcare away.
As the article points out:
Most people have probably never questioned it: You get a job, and if you’re lucky, it comes with health insurance. Your boss decides what kind of plan you’re on, and every year he decides if he wants to switch you to a different one (which is why “If you like your plan, you can keep it” is a fiction, no matter who’s saying it). That’s just how things work.
. . .
But the employer insurance system creates all kinds of problems, like “job lock” (when you can’t leave a job you don’t like, say, to start a business, because you fear losing your coverage), the fact that the deductibility rewards people with higher incomes more or situations like the Hobby Lobby case, where employers get to make personal decisions for their employees based on the employer’s religious beliefs. As Aaron E. Carroll wrote, “There are almost no economists I can think of who wouldn’t favor decoupling insurance from employment.”
Emphasis mine.
Right now, we are depending on the wonderful benevolence of our boss to provide healthcare that we need. We're depending on the mercy of our insurance companies to not deny us coverage when something happens. Medicare for All eliminates that dependence. This is why large corporations and insurance companies are against it. It gives power and choice back to the workers and takes it away from these entities. We should all try to imagine what it would be like if we never had to worry that our health coverage would be subject to the whims of our boss. It would make for a much less anxious existence, for everyone. We need to stop the extortion from our employers and stop the private taxes in the form of deductibles, premiums, and co-pays to the insurance companies. Bernie Sanders is right- Medicare for All.