Newspapers recently examined contract negotiations between United Auto Workers and the Big Three U.S. auto manufacturers on possible solutions to fund retiree health care. Auto manufacturers General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler cover the health expenses of more than 1.1 million current and former union members and their dependents, at a cost of about $12 billion annually. About 600,000 of those members are retirees. In recent months, the automakers have been weighing an agreement reached late last year between Goodyear Tire & Rubber and the United Steelworkers of America. Under the agreement, Goodyear transferred retiree health care obligations to an independent trust fund known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, to be managed by the union. In exchange, Goodyear established a $1 billion fund to pay health care costs and agreed to invest at least $550 million in manufacturing facilities represented by the union. The VEBA solution could cost the automakers between $60 billion to $65 billion in upfront costs. Chrysler begins talks on Friday, while Ford and GM will begin on Monday. The current UAW contract expires Sept. 14 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/19). Summaries of the coverage appear below.

• AP/Chicago Tribune: The AP/Tribune reports that whether "the companies get what they want depends largely on UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who has said the union will not go into the talks in a 'concessionary mode.'" All three automakers will seek to reduce costs to $48 per hour in wages, pension and health care costs for hourly workers. Currently, Ford pays $70.51, GM pays $73.26 and Chrysler pays $75.86, according to the companies' annual reports (Krisher, AP/Chicago Tribune, 7/19).
  
  
• USA Today: USA Today examined how it is "expected" that contracts reached with UAW will "revamp how the industry deals with big issues such as wage packages and retiree health care, as well as smaller ones, such as work rules and break times" (Silke Carty, USA Today, 7/20).
  
  
• USA Today: USA Today also examined how the negotiations with the Big Three automakers will be Gettelfinger's "biggest challenge" since he became president of UAW in 2002 (Gallagher, USA Today, 7/20).
  
  
• Wall Street Journal: The Journal examined how "[b]lue-collar retiree health care obligations will be a central issue" in contract negotiations that begin Friday and how the "nitty-gritty details ... pose significant and potentially costly hurdles" (Stoll, Wall Street Journal, 7/20).
  

Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday included a discussion with Len Nichols, an economist at the New America Foundation, about UAW negotiations and employer-sponsored health benefits (Wertheimer, "Morning Edition," NPR, 7/20). Audio of the segment is available online.