November 7, 2008

Dear Representative ______________,

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your re-election. At such a historical time in American history, I would like to take the opportunity to suggest that you and the Republican Party make even greater history.

This morning I watched as the media announced that the three leading auto makers in the US and the leaders of the UAW plan to meet with Sen. Pelosi to double the “handout” or rescue for the ailing auto industry. This affects our state because of the impact on local production plants and dealerships. My question is this, “Why can’t the Republican Party make the first effort to address the auto crisis”? If the party was to meet the issue head on with the middle class of America, then the party would begin to dispel their image of “friend to big business”.

I strongly urge you to take a leadership position and consider this proposal to introduce within the Republican Party. As a taxpayer, union member, nurse, and spouse of a small business owner, I oppose any more handouts to the automakers. They are just stalling the inevitable without commitment to change. It might best serve the industry to work with the union in an effort to preserve and create jobs and promote a less costly and more efficient American automobile.

Unions organize for three specific reasons; wages, pensions, and health benefits. Health benefits were a primary issue of the recent election, but faded into the backdrop after the economy plummeted. Health care is an issue that will not go away. I urge you to look back in history and take a lesson from early unions. It is time for the auto industry and unions to work together for self preservation. First, consider negotiating a return to the trade unions “Welfare Fund” structure. This held true for decades until the advent of health insurance companies. However, trade unions continue to provide their union members coverage through these funds. Healthcare is not a one size fits all proposition. An example of this is that a young healthy auto worker does not require a $12,000.00 per year health plan, whereas most young families do not use a fraction of that plan in a year. The employer is paying thousands for the “just in case” plan, without including the employee co-pay. Now, add this thought to the process. If unions provided welfare coverage, then as a bargaining agent, they have the ability to invest in an umbrella policy at a lower cost for catastrophic illness. The state of New Jersey supports the “Catastrophic Illness for Children” fund, which is an example of the type of umbrella fund that I suggest. Trade unions have survived throughout the last century and are an example of the independent American workers spirit, something we need to inject into the auto industry.

Welfare funds decrease the cost to the auto industry, protect the health of the worker, and maintain the integrity of the collective bargaining unit. The second part of the proposal would encompass unions seeking federal funding to provide community based Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers. Unions, as non-profit organizations can apply to the federal government for grants to provide the healthcare that their demographics require. The more Primary Care Centers (PCP) the union provides throughout the country, the greater opportunity to increase their union earning power. FQHCs provide free and reduced healthcare (medical and dental) to communities. They also participate with and accept other forms of insurance, such as Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, occupational health, and workers compensation, as well as provide healthcare the uninsured and underinsured. Associations with teaching healthcare facilities provide access to advanced and acute care and contribute to medical education. This allows reinvestment into the union, community advancement, and cooperation with work related illness and injury. This creates more jobs in more communities through the cooperative effort of the union, corporation, healthcare, and certainly not the federal government. To encourage and support such a novel idea truly bridges some of the gaps and frustrations of the Republican Party and organized labor. It also reinforces our conservative values of less government intervention.

With a reduction in healthcare costs, the industry will be able to refocus on building a better product that will not reflect the added cost of employee health care. With that said, the next issue is the employee pension. When you connect the dot of healthcare to the employee/employer savings in healthcare, the union, as a nonprofit organization can use the proceeds to provide supplemental care within the pension plan, such as prescription coverage and decreased employee pension contributions.  Using national Pharmacy Managed Care Organizations reduces costs and increases choices of providers. This reduces the dependency on government intervention and preserves the future of many pensions. The union and its board of representatives become the watchdogs of their futures and not the stock holders of the company. If a company dies, so does the pension plan, or any hope of future gains.

The topic of wages and unemployment is of great consequence to the auto industry. Succinctly, extended unemployment does not support a family nor add to your pension. By reducing the dependence of the worker on healthcare concerns, it enables the worker to address their earning abilities. The industry can then address realignment of product production and future wages. If the union follows the previous suggestions, then it increases the value of the workforce through independence and greater control over their earnings. The key issue is to build a competitive American product that increases our ingenuity and returns the American automobile to a top selling product. Companies need to apply for federal grants that improve the product and decrease our dependence on foreign companies. We need to start with directing and assisting unions to seek the available grants for workplace improvement and technology that secures our autoworkers jobs, tax credits, and profitability in a fragile economy. Americans want to work; I don’t believe that a federal bailout for the short term is the answer.

                                                                        Very Truly Yours,