home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Time - Man of the Year
/
Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
/
moy
/
090792
/
09079911.000
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-04-08
|
2KB
|
45 lines
THE WEEK, Page 20BUSINESSYour Money Or Your Life
GM is shifting part of its health-care bill to white-collar
workers
"As long as you have your health . . . " a familiar saying
declares. But white-collar employees of General Motors who want
to be certain of their health will soon have to ante up for it
themselves. GM, having spent more than $3.4 billion on health
care for its employees last year -- or $900 per vehicle -- has
decided to apply the brakes. Last week 100,000 office-level
employees at the company's finance unit and its U.S. car and
truck division received memos informing them that they will be
asked to pay a monthly premium of as yet unrevealed size for
their health insurance next year. Retirees will also have to pay
part of the cost of postretirement medical benefits. Unlike
blue-collar workers represented by the United Auto Workers, who
pay nothing for their health care, GM's white-collar employees
are not protected by union contracts.
The move surely did not pass unnoticed by GM competitors
Ford and Chrysler. While they still offer fully paid
health-care plans to their employees, both companies are
similarly groaning under the burden of escalating health costs.
The changes also set the stage for a battle next year with the
U.A.W., which will resist any effort to shift health costs to
its members. Says Don Douglas, president of U.A.W. Local 594 in
Pontiac, Michigan: "There's no doubt it's going to be a major
issue in next year's negotiations."
GM and the union are already at odds because of company
plans to close 21 plants. Last week 2,300 GM workers struck a
parts plant in Lordstown, Ohio, over job security. The action
halted the assembly line for the much touted Saturn, which
depends on a steady flow of auto components to meet its
Japanese-inspired "just in time" production system.