---------------------- Forwarded by Dennis Raphael/Atkinson on 09/13/2002 11:45
AM ---------------------------





"jimdunn55555" <[log in to unmask]> on 09/13/2002 10:36:56 AM



 To:      [log in to unmask]

 cc:      (bcc: Dennis Raphael/Atkinson)



 Subject: [spiritof1848] Public Health Care Good for Business
          says GM Canada President








CAW, auto makers laud health system

By GREG KEENAN AUTO INDUSTRY REPORTER
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Friday, September 13, 2002



û Print Edition, Page B5

Canada's system of government-financed health care represents about
half the cost advantage General Motors of Canada Ltd.'s assembly
plants have over U.S. plants, GM Canada president Michael Grimaldi
says.

The health care system is a "strategic advantage," for Canada, Mr.
Grimaldi said yesterday as he and Canadian Auto Workers union
president Buzz Hargrove unveiled a joint letter that the union and
all Big Three auto makers are sending to Ottawa.

"The public health care system significantly reduces total labour
costs for automobile manufacturing firms, compared to the cost of
equivalent private insurance services purchased by U.S.-based auto
makers; these health insurance savings can amount to several dollars
per hour of labour worked," the union, GM, DaimlerChrysler Canada
Inc. and Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. said in the joint statement.

"The erosion of publicly funded health care -- through measures such
as the delisting of currently covered services, the imposition of
user fees, the failure of the public system to keep up with the
changing nature of health care and new costs such as prescription
drugs and home care -- will impose significant costs on automotive
employers and undermine the attractiveness of Canada as a site for
new automotive investment," the letter said.

The public health care system also makes Canadian workers healthier
and more productive, the letter added.

Mr. Grimaldi said preserving and enhancing the health care system
will make it more attractive for GM Canada to continue making
investments here.He cited the addition of a third shift at one of the
company's car plants in Oshawa, Ont., and a $500-million investment
at Cami Automotive Inc., a joint venture assembly plant operated with
Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd.

The joint statement comes as the CAW is locked in contract talks with
the Big Three. At the moment, it is negotiating with GM Canada with a
deadline of next Tuesday night for a new contract.

Those talks are going well, both Mr. Hargrove and Mr. Grimaldi said,
while tossing compliments at each other.Mr. Hargrove said he's hoping
for a first wage offer from the company by as early as today."A lot
of money and a lot of jobs will get you an agreement, Mike," he told
Mr. Grimaldi.

But the focus yesterday was on health care, including during the
talks.Mr. Hargrove said a presentation from GM Canada's health care
provider showed that "some of the increases we're facing in drugs are
astronomical."

GM Canada's parent, General Motors Corp., is facing similar
challenges, Michael Bruynesteyn, an analyst for Prudential Securities
Inc., noted in a recent report.

"We understand from GM that it is the world's largest purchaser of
Viagra, a benefit not usually covered by many U.S. employers' health
care plans," Mr. Bruynesteyn noted.

Between employees, retirees and their dependents, GM pays for health
care benefits for about 1.25 million Americans, roughly the
population of Manitoba, Stephen Girsky, an auto industry analyst for
Morgan Stanley, noted in a report on GM last year.

The costs of that service amounted to $3.9-billion (U.S.) in 2000,
Mr. Girsky noted.That in turn, represented a little more than $900 on
every vehicle GM assembled in the United States in 2000.


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