GM reverses decision on health care, says it will cover UAW strikers

In a significant reversal, General Motors has told UAW that it will continue to pay for health coverage of striking workers.

GM told the union after it went on strike on September 16 on the company's Web sites nationwide that it kicked the health care of the union, a move that UAW leaders said blindsided them, even though they expected to incur those costs at some points through the strike fund.

GM said Thursday that it "has chosen to partner with our suppliers to keep all the benefits in place for striking employees for hours, so they have no disruptions to medical treatment, including vision, prescription and dental coverage.

" If they have an insurance claim, they should file it. GM will continue to give them coverage they trust given the conditions, "the company said. The company did not set an end date.

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"This is really an attempt to do what's right for our employees," said spokesman Dan Flores.

A person familiar with the talks said the company's change was made to eliminate confusion and hope

On Wednesday, UAW said that "all pending proposals are now at the main table and have been presented to General Motors, and we are awaiting response. This back and forth will continue until the negotiations are completed. "

But the dealers left home early Wednesday night, after working later every previous strike, suggesting that the pages remain far apart on some key points.

The health care reversal comes as GM has tolerated some criticism of the original

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders used the problem with GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra's $ 21[ads1].87 million compensation in 2018 to shame the company as he gathered workers Wednesday outside the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly facility. [19659014] "They think they're going to force you into submission. Imagine a company where the CEO gets $ 22 million and then they cut the health benefits of their workers, "said the Vermont senator.

A source of knowledge about the conversations that accused GM of not using the problem as influence but chose to restore health care because its image has been injured.

Terry Dittes, who is leading negotiations with GM for UAW, noted in a letter Thursday to Scott Sandefur, GM's top distributor, that GM's "irresponsible actions" related to the health care system had "played" with the UAW family's lives.

Labor experts had also questioned the tactics.

"They are pouring gasoline on the fire," Harry Katz, Jack Sheinkman, a professor of collective bargaining at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, told Free Press last week. "This makes the workers more angry. GM believes this will scare them or cause them to reassess the cost of the benefits. I think it's going to strike back. It is fast, rash and insensitive. "

Although the health care system for striking workers has been a focus, another source of knowledge about the talks said that progress has been made during the negotiations.

" We continue to talk and it is good, "said the source. [19659021] Contact Eric D. Lawrence at elawrence@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @_ ericdlawrence . Read more at autos and sign up our autos newsletter .

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