Taxpayers should not Pay for UAW Health Care Benefits

The Detroit News

One reason the public so distrusts the health care plan being considered by Congress is that so many troublesome details keep bubbling out of the massive legislation.

The latest example is the $10 billion taxpayers will be asked to shell out to prop up the United Auto Workers' retiree health insurance program.

That provision is tucked deep into the bill passed by the House.

In effect, it would ask every taxpayer, regardless of whether they'll have health insurance coverage themselves after they retire -- and most won't -- to chip in to maintain the UAW's coverage, which even after the union's givebacks is still better than what the average American worker receives.

The helping hand is a recognition by Congress that the union's volunteer employee benefit association, or VEBA, can't possibly stay solvent if it is asked to cover all of the union workers taking early buyouts from the Detroit automakers.

So the union's supporters added language to the House's gargantuan health care bill that requires the federal government to pick up most of the cost of catastrophic claims for union retirees age 55 to 64.

The biggest beneficiary would be the UAW, which got $60 billion from the Big Three in exchange for taking on the obligation for retiree health care.

But the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler....to continue reading the article Click HERE

Just in..Union Spending in Michigan

Mackinac Center for Public Policy

MIDLAND — In 2008 the state of Michigan made union dues and agency fees payments in excess of $17.6 million to six union organizations, according to state documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request filed by Paul Kersey, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

This figure covers state government employees only;

...The following unions received "membership dues" payments from the state:

UAW Local 6000 $5,838,655.20
Michigan Corrections Organization (SEIU Local 526M) $4,959,645.28

SEIU Local 517M $2,433,129.78

Michigan State Employees Association (AFSCME Local 5) $2,187,813.60

Michigan State Police Troopers Association
$1,125,395.91

AFSCME Council 25
$1,050,559.04

TOTAL: $17,595,198.81

...Unions typically claim that political activism and lobbying make up a modest portion of their activities, but both SEIU and AFSCME records show political spending making up more than 10 percent of their budget. Kersey found that many unions attempted to characterize political activism as representation or charitable activity, meaning that the actual percentage is likely to be higher.

Complete report Union Spending in Michigan: A Review of Union Financial Disclosure Reports