This was inevitable. General Motors is now threatening the UAW with unilateral cuts in health care coverage for workers (you can see the first few paragraphs below of the story in today’s Wall Street Journal)

Wake up. Cast off the insane ideology that keeps national health care from becoming a reality. This is a question of morality AND economic competitiveness.

And I can’t help but wonder again whether corporate executives have no shame (obviously, that’s a rhetorical question): we shouldn’t forget, as we’re reminded below, that while Delphi workers are being asked to take huge pay cuts, the company ENHANCED (that deserves capital letters) the severance and equity packages for executives. Shame, shame, shame–where is the public outrage or even a little outrage from the Democratic Party? If we had a true opposition party looking out for workers, party leaders would be leading mass protests outside Delphi headquarters.

GM Presses UAW For Health-Care Deal
By JOSEPH B. WHITE and JEFFREY MCCRACKEN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 14, 2005
Page A3

General Motors Corp. has signaled to the United Auto Workers union that an agreement to cut GM’s $5.6 billion annual U.S. health-care bill must come within the next few days, or the company could act unilaterally to cut UAW health-care spending, among other cost-cutting moves, according to people familiar with the matter.

UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, the union’s top negotiator at GM, said in an interview yesterday that the union and GM are continuing what he described as “constructive” discussions over health-care costs and related issues. Mr. Shoemaker declined to discuss details of the talks or any deadlines, but said “everybody realizes … they need to be brought to a conclusion in the near future.”

GM officials wouldn’t discuss details of the company’s proposals. Union officials have said in the past that GM management is seeking cuts of $1 billion a year and changes in retiree plans that could slash $20 billion from GM’s retiree health-care obligations. Some analysts have pointed out that GM could argue that it isn’t obligated under the contract to provide the same benefits to retirees as to active workers, as it does currently.

Meanwhile, tensions escalated between the UAW and GM’s largest supplier and former parts unit, Delphi Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection Saturday. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger criticized Delphi Chairman and Chief Executive Robert S. “Steve” Miller, and said the union intends to challenge Delphi’s plan to offer richer severance packages and equity in a restructured Delphi to top executives, even as the company says hourly workers should accept a nearly 70% cut in pay and benefits….”