Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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Joe Biden and others argue that National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA) would hurt unions. They say workers don’t want to lose their private, employer-sponsored insurance. Well, General Motors just proved why we need NIMA.
Fifty-thousand striking members of the United Auto Workers walked off their jobs at GM last month in a fight largely over health care benefits.
GM is holding workers’ superior health care benefits hostage, using health care as a lure to get workers to cross the picket line. NIMA puts power back in workers’ hands. They wouldn’t need to negotiate for health care benefits, which would be guaranteed regardless of where they work.
Often during negotiations, unions sacrifice wage and pension increases and safer working conditions in exchange for generous health care benefits. That’s why some of the nation’s largest unions support NIMA, and others are moving in that direction.
Maintaining employer-based health care means handing bosses another weapon to use against workers. If we are going to stand with union workers and put power in their hands, we must remove their reliance on the goodwill of their employer. Health care must be considered a human right not a pawn.
Under NIMA, whether you’re working or not, or switching jobs, your health care would be right there with you. Employer-based health care lacks stability. Every industrialized country in the world provides universal health care for their citizens. It’s far from a radical solution.
