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Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,761,129 times
Reputation: 3587
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Niners fan
I understand their frustration but we have to get past this notion of working for a company for 25 or 30 years and then being set for the rest of your life. My dad has cousins in Michigan that started in the auto plants at age 18 and retired at 48. They could live another 30 or 40 years. From a business standpoint a company just can't be competitive if they are paying for so many retirees.
I don't know about the auto companies but where I work, while you can "retire" at 30 years, you cannot draw a pension until you are 60. You can remain on the health plan but you have to pay premiums and co-pays. So it is not like they leave at 48 and get to do nothing until they die. Typically people that leave at 49 or 50 go to work somewhere else for another 10 or 15 years to get another pension.
A former company did the same thing. I thought they said there would be no benefits for people hired after X date though. I dont think many fortune 500 companies will have this benefit in 10 years. Health care costs are costing companies way too much.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,761,129 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oildog
A former company did the same thing. I thought they said there would be no benefits for people hired after X date though. I dont think many fortune 500 companies will have this benefit in 10 years. Health care costs are costing companies way too much.
I think in 10 years we will have National Health like Canada, Austrailia and the UK have. It is going to happen and there will not even be much of a debate about it. Too many people are being cut off and denied by employers and private insurance companies leaving too few to support a system everybody uses. Already about 1/3 of the population is on "government insurance" either because they work for the government, are in the military or are on medicaid or medicare.
The auto makers are in contracts where they have to pay salries for like a year if they layoff. last I heard 1500 dollars per vehicle price is o pay medical insurnace. Just like everyhting it had to come to a end sometime.
I though a contract was a contract. If the companies contracted to provide health insurance as part of the pension they are obligated to do so. Just because they might have to cut dividends and executive salaries is no excuse to break a contract. Obligations are obligations and must be met or the entire system, which is based on contract and obligation, will brake down and business will effectively cease.
Well, it may have been promised and contract... your options are this: Bankruptcy and you WILL lose pension and health benefits......... or No Bankruptcy and you will lose health benefits... what would you choose? Apparently you can complain all you want but the decision is pretty clear IMO...
Agreed...unfortunately it will lower the standard of care. I know a number of Canadians who wish they had US healthcare as they are not satisfied with the government sponsored version. But what do you expect when a 'free' service is provided to all.
Save your money folks in case you get sick...you don't want to go to the charity hospital...
So in order to save the stockholders, executives and bankers, it is better to bankrupt the retirees than meet the obligation to provide health care?
IMHO bankrupt the mess and sell the assets to someone that can keep their word.
Are you that naive to believe every company except GM keeps their word?
Many, many companies make changes every day which hurts current and former employees.
What GM is doing is nothing new. Companies have been doing this for years.
Where's the savings of these employees from all the years making good money working at these companies? Didn't they save and live within their means?
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