"We're monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis," said Flores. GM said its three plants in Mexico, where it builds the current generation of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups along with Chevrolet Equinox, Trax, Blazer and GMC Terrain SUVs, were not affected so far. The UAW reacted to the news saying in a statement: "It's not surprising that instead of touching their profits they'd rather hurt real people." "At Oshawa we build our previous generation of full-size pickups and the pickup line is down because of a parts shortage due to the strike," said GM's Flores. auto workers has limited the number of parts shipped to Canada, shutting down the assembly line at the plant. Meanwhile, GM confirmed that it told workers at its Oshawa assembly plant late Tuesday to stay home after the strike by U.S. worker pays about 28% of health care costs, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. GM and Ford each spend $1 billion a year on worker health care, which some industry observers consider unsustainable. One person said GM has proposed that workers pay 15% of their health care costs, up from the current estimated level of 3% of health expenses. Another person familiar with talks said GM's offer preserves current health care benefits at the same cost.
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Health care is one of the key points in the negotiations that contributed to the bargaining committee rejecting GM's initial proposal, sources have told the Free Press. As of Wednesday morning, UAW lawyers were still reviewing the matter. That means if a person needs medication today, they pay for it, but submit for reimbursement with COBRA and will be covered.īut the UAW said its lawyers were reviewing GM's move to determine if "further action is required," Terry Dittes, vice president for the union's GM Department, said in a Tuesday letter to members. Flores said all medical and prescription drug benefits are continuous and retroactive to the beginning of the strike once an employee enrolls in COBRA.
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"But they have to enroll in COBRA and there is a process to do that and if they don't know that process, they can call the GM Benefits and Service Center." "Workers aren't going without insurance," said GM spokesman Dan Flores. The automaker insists that it is not leaving workers out in the cold for health care coverage. One source told the Free Press that on multiple occasions prior to the strike, UAW local and international leaders told members that the benefits would be paid for by the strike fund. The union is picking up the cost of the coverage and workers remain insured. "The company’s decision was made without any warning to the UAW, leaving more than 48,000 members and their families at risk of being suddenly uninsured." "Monday night, as workers from nearly 70 facilities in 19 states were standing on the picket lines, GM chose to terminate their health coverage immediately," wrote UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg. Wednesday afternoon, the UAW blasted GM for the move in a media statement.
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That fund also will pay striking workers $250 a week. That means striking GM union workers are eligible for union coverage, including union-paid COBRA to continue their health care benefits. The union had more than $750 million in its strike fund going into the work stoppage. Then, on Tuesday, GM blindsided the UAW leadership when it told the union the company had stopped paying for health care coverage for striking workers the night before. The sides resumed bargaining Monday morning around 10 a.m., but there have been some tense moments, said those familiar with the negotiations. UAW workers at 55 GM facilities across the United States went on strike at midnight Sunday after the UAW let its contract expire the night before.