The head of the United Auto Workers said Wednesday that the union already has made health care concessions to General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., and he implied that it won't give any more. At the close of the union's two-day bargaining convention in downtown Detroit, President Ron Gettelfinger said the UAW made major concessions in 2005 that saved Ford and GM billions in long-term retiree health care obligations. "We addressed health care in '05. You don't get two bites of the apple, do you?" he said. "We've stepped up to the plate," Gettelfinger said when asked if the union would consider further concessions or taking on the health care obligations in a deal similar to one reached between the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers.
See "UAW chief says union has given automakers concessions on health", Tom Krisher, Chicago Tribune, March 27, 2007