The three largest U.S. auto companies, known as the "big three", are looking to reduce their health care costs, but the United Auto Workers (UAW) has refused to share the cost of health care. The cost of health care has soared in recent years, and the auto industry is in a very vulnerable position as it faces tough foreign competition. In countries like Japan and Germany, the government provides health care, but in the U.S. the burden falls on companies making it more difficult to compete.
See "Health Costs Soaring, Automakers Are to Begin Labor Talks", Danny Hakim, The New York Times, July 14, 2003