{"id":16903,"date":"2019-09-18T16:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/benefits\/health-benefits\/health-benefits-a-sticking-point-in-contract-talks-between-gm-union-135935"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:00:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:00:33","slug":"health-benefits-a-sticking-point-in-contract-talks-between-gm-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2019\/09\/18\/health-benefits-a-sticking-point-in-contract-talks-between-gm-union\/","title":{"rendered":"Health benefits a sticking point in contract talks between GM, union"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Copyright <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The Associated Press <\/span> | September 18, 2019 <\/p>\n

Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Company showed some signs of progress this week as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day.<\/p>\n

The walkout brought more than 50 factories and parts warehouses to a standstill in the union\u2019s first strike against the U.S. automaker in over a decade. Workers left factories and formed picket lines shortly after midnight Monday in the dispute over a new four-year contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are talking, they\u2019ve made progress, we\u2019ll see how long it takes,’\u201d said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the UAW.<\/p>\n

Read: GM Canada pension plan reaches fully funded status<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the main sticking points is health care. GM is looking to cut its costs, but workers say they shouldn\u2019t have to pay more because the company is making billions in profits. Union workers pay about four per cent of their health-care costs, but employees of large companies in the U.S. pay an average of 34 per cent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n

Tina Black, who finishes up 10-speed automatic transmissions at a GM engine and transmission factory in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, said health insurance is the most important issue to her and she doesn\u2019t want GM to change anything. The factory workers, she said, work 10-12 hours doing the same repetitive tasks, which can cause injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt breaks down your body,\u201d said Black. \u201cIn order to take care of ourselves, we need that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read: Carleton touts commitment to DB plan as CUPE strike ends<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

On Sunday, GM said it offered pay raises and $7 billion worth of U.S. factory investments resulting in 5,400 new positions, a minority of which would be filled by existing employees. The company also said it offered higher profit sharing, \u201cnationally leading\u201d health benefits and an $8,000 payment to each worker upon ratification.<\/p>\n

Gary Chaison, professor emeritus of industrial relations at Clark University in Massachusetts, expects the strike to end within a week. He sees it as more of a message to show how effective the union is, especially for non-union workers who might be asked to join the UAW.<\/p>\n

GM\u2019s offers, he said, seem to be pretty good, so the strike is a mystery to him. \u201cI can\u2019t see a prolonged strike coming out of this. I think there\u2019s too much to lose and not enough to gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read: Ford and Unifor ratified agreement includes pension, health benefits changes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Associated Press  | September 18, 2019 Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Company showed some signs of progress this week as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}