A few weeks ago, a North Carolina paper worker was packing his bags to fly to New Delhi to have his gall bladder removed and the muscles in his left shoulder repaired. The employee was to be the first company-sponsored worker in the United States to receive medical treatment in low-cost India. But instead of making the 20-hour flight, he was grounded by a stormy debate between his employer and his union. The union, the United Steelworkers, stepped in after it heard about the plans, saying it deplored a "shocking new approach" of sending workers to low-cost countries as a way to cut health care costs. Its officials insisted that the worker be offered a health care option within the United States.
See "Union Disrupts Plan to Send Ailing Workers to India for Cheaper Medical Care", Saritha Rai, The New York Times, October 10, 2006