Health Care is not a privilege but a right! Ten or fifteen years ago health insurance was a given. Union and non-union companies in every industry provided health insurance coverage for its employees. Many unions and employers or groups of employers established funds that administered the insurance benefits to the covered groups of workers. The employers paid the premiums to the fund and the fund in turn paid the bills to healthcare providers.
Every contract the union would seek more money for the fund, providing additional benefits for the workers and their families. All was well. The workers gave up a few cents per hour in wage increases and in return received good benefits. Non-union companies followed suit and provided some of the benefits for their employees.
What happened? Health care costs started skyrocketing. Why? There are many factors and much finger pointing. Some accuse doctors and hospitals of getting greedy; others blame the high cost of new technology and unnecessary procedures. For others, insurance companies got greedy and the doctors blame the lawyers because of large malpractice awards. Whatever the cause, and there are many, healthcare costs began to increase dramatically. It’s gotten to the point where Ford Motor Company pays more for its employees’ health insurance than they do for the steel to make cars.
Because of increased costs, non-union employers started cutting benefits. Many stopped covering their workers altogether. This only exacerbated the problem for everyone else. Those who had insurance subsidized the treatment of those who didn’t. Unionized employers weren’t able to unilaterally make the same cuts. Nevertheless, pressure increased at the bargaining table to take cost saving measures and to not fund benefit improvements.
Employers are demanding their workers share an ever-increasing portion of the cost. Our members at Carhartt were the first in our Local to feel the sticker shock. The non-union garment companies don’t worry about health insurance since most have moved off shore where even wages are only a few dollars a day. Still Carhartt has to remain competitive or go out of business. Today health care costs are the number one issue at the bargaining table. In the current contract dispute in Southern California, resulting in 70,000 grocery workers on strike and locked-out, three of the most profitable companies in the industry are hiding behind Wal-Mart while effectively eliminating health care for their employees. Safeway, Kroger, and Albertsons’ combined profit rose 91 percent over the last five years and they control 61 percent of the grocery market in Southern California; yet, they are asking their workers to sacrifice their health to increase those profits even more.
At the heart of this fight is a question of values -- the values of the hard-working, middle class American worker or the underlying greed of the largest company in the world. Every person working hard for a living earns the right to a decent wage, affordable health-care, and a voice on the job. On the other hand, Wal-Mart’s greed provides other companies a license to chip away at the rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working conditions. Wal-Mart is transforming America from a secure middle class country to one of extremes: making affordable health insurance a privilege for the rich instead of a right for all.