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Originally Posted by the
"Corporate America" (at least the automakers) aren't trying to convince anyone they don't owe health care or retirement obligations. That would be silly. These are written obligations, they cannot be denied.
But as you say, given the costs, they simply cannot afford it. Period. They would, I'm sure, love to be in a position to hold up their end of the bargain. But they are not. Can't get blood from a turnip.
There is no propaganda campaign necessary. They have fulfilled their obligations to the point of driving them out of business. They will continue to keep paying out all the UAW obligations until they are bankrupt.
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Hmm... where to start - you missed my entire point.
Yes, where contracts are involved, these are "written obligations". Those contracts come up for renewal periodically, and the companies try (and here at Boeing) succeed in taking away some of the health care and retirement package. That is precisely why our IAM workers went on strike - the company made an offer that had substantially lowered benefits in these areas.
The local ad (propaganda) campaign from the company went to great lengths to point out that union workers were getting more than the average bear, and were getting greedy about it. They harped on about offering "the best package in the industry", which they actually were. That is not, however, a reflection on the comprehensiveness of their offer, but rather on the degradation of similar compensation packages elsewhere. Workers have been losing ground. I see it myself. And corporate America has been successful at painting the worker as the greedy villain.
The company went as far as to propose no pension whatsoever for anyone hired from here on. That is why the IAM strikes here - the company continually endeavors to remove more and more from their compensation plan, insinuating that it is "extra" on top of their wages. And insinuating no such deal was struck in the early '50's. Companies like this neither want to pay for employee medical and retirement nor be taxed so that the gubmint can step in. They want to have their cake and eat it, too.
And no, one cannot get blood from a turnip. This one has long since been bled dry. The handwriting has been on the wall for a long, long time however. Corporate America has had plenty of time to negotiate its way out of this bargain with the American people. But, alas, their version of "socialized health care" and a meaningful alternative to Social Security has always been taxpayer citizen funded, not corporate funded. Pushing the costs back to the public, without increased compensation to make up for. Ultimately, no taxes out of Corporate America's pockets to pay for any of this, via their own plans or public programs. Like I said, they will have their cake and eat it, too.