[TheForge] OT Union Rant

[Ries Niemi]

Why do people think it is the bosses job to pay for health care?
Darrell



First- I have never been a Union Member- in fact, I havent had a boss 
since 1978.
I am so independent I cant even see working for somebody else-
So I could as easily say- "why do people expect somebody else to pay 
them?"

But the fact of the matter is, no matter how stubborn, or independant, 
or "free" we are, we are all members of a larger community. In most of 
our case, that would be the United States of America.
And we, the citizens of the US, pay for health care, one way or 
another. We have made collective decisions on how we do that. Some of 
those decisions are made by individuals, some by companies, some by 
government. But  decisions have been made.
And we all pay, one way or another. If we as a group decide that 
companies should not pay for healthcare, which is what we seem to be 
doing, then somebody else is gonna pay. Because as a society, we have 
already made a decision that we are not going to let people die in the 
street. Now you may not think that is the right decision, and some 
other countries have made other ones- in Africa, and parts of Asia, 
they do let people die in the street if they dont have money. But we 
treat anyone here, and if they cant pay, then the hospitals and the 
government pay. Which of course, means we, the citizens who pay our 
medical insurance, and who pay taxes, pay.
The big companies are cutting loose their retirees- Weirton steel just 
got permission to quit paying the medical costs for all its retirees. 
Now when those old retired steel workers have a heart attack, they are 
still gonna call 911, and the doctors of West Virginia are still gonna 
treat them- but instead of Weirton paying, its gonna be the 
shareholders of the private hospitals, or, more likely, the government 
(read you and me).
Maybe it isnt the bosses job to pay for health care. I dont pay health 
care for my employees. I just cant afford it.
But I pay for it in other ways- my State business taxes, my property 
taxes, and the amounts I pay for my own personal health care all 
reflect the costs of treating people who cant afford it.

The reality is that we as a group of people have decided to pool some 
of our resources to do things that we either cant afford to do 
individually, or just plain wont do individually. Those things would 
include raising and paying for an army to defend our country, schools 
to educate our kids, police and fire departments, and the like. Which 
things we do communally are always open to debate, and always changing, 
depending on who we elect. In the old days, bosses didnt pay for health 
care. When employees got sick from on the job conditions, or anything 
else, bosses just fired them, and got a new employee. Let the old one 
die, of black lung, or cancer, or lead poisoning.
Unions fought to change that, and around here anyway, a lot of people 
died getting those changes in health care. The bosses shot a lot of 
union organizers up my way, not so very long ago- say within the last 
hundred years. And we, as a society, decided that if the workers could 
talk them into it, then yes, the bosses should pay for health care. Now 
we, as a society, seem to be changing our minds, and making individuals 
pay for health care. Which is fine- thats the way democracy should work.
But my suspicion is that after the pendulum swings this right wing way 
for a while, protecting the bosses rights to make maximum profit at the 
expense of the employee, (remember, I am a boss, so my viewpoint may be 
a little slanted) I think the pendulum is going to swing back, because 
I think it benefits us all to have adequate health care for everybody. 
In fact, I think it is better for business if we have adequate health 
care. Like I said, we pays for it one way or another. I dont know what 
the best system is- none of them seem to work, as far as I can tell. 
The only medical system that worked was the one where doctors didnt get 
paid much, and medicine was really cheap, and lot of people died from 
stuff that is now curable by big expensive procedures. And I dont think 
we are going back to that one.
As far as unions go- well, when they need it bad enough, people will 
unionize. A well run company will probably not have a problem. 
Companies that screw their employees will have unions organize them. 
And then, when times are good, the unions get fat and sassy, and 
decline in members.

ries