Health care needs remedy

The longest grocery strike in U.S. history has ended, but
workers still don’t have the quality health care they fought
so hard for. Last week, the grocers and workers voted on a contract
that ended the four-and-a-half- month strike, which cost the
supermarkets over $1 billion dollars.

Though the new contract ““ approved by 86 percent of the
workers ““ will conclude the lockouts, it will not end
the struggle for affordable health care. The grocery strike called
attention to the plight of many Americans ““ both the insured
and 43.6 million uninsured ““ who are failed by the current
health system.

The fault lies with many, including the federal government,
which conveniently has shirked health care access for all
people by refusing to create a universal health care system.

The negotiated grocery worker contract is no victory for health
care, either; though veteran employees still will receive full
health care coverage for two years, employees hired after Oct. 6,
2003, won’t receive the benefits the strikers fought to
maintain. Instead, these employees will be offered inferior wages
and benefits as well as leaner health care coverage.

In a capitalist economy, where grocers must challenge
competition with high profits and efficiency, the bottom line often
matters most. Many executives argue they must pass some of their
costs to workers for survival. For this reason, employees at places
like Ralphs cannot depend upon workplace benefits for
affordable health care.

Adding fuel to the fire, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to build 40
new Southern California superstores by 2009, meaning supermarkets
will have to compete with the world’s largest retailer.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart chains pay their employees about 20
percent less than most grocers, allow no unions
to support employee rights, and only provide health coverage
for one fifth of an employee’s pay check ““ an
unaffordable price to the average Wal-Mart worker earning $8 an
hour in a 29- to 32-hour week.

Now, grocery executives have cut employee paychecks and
insurance to stay competitive. Executives naturally defend profits,
but they also make critical choices that compromise the health of
their employees.

If employers are not legally obligated to provide insurance to
employees, then a duty should rest on the federal government to
adopt a universal health care system.

Though universal health care boasts results that can’t be
ignored, the United States stands as the only industrialized nation
refusing to guarantee access to health care. Canada and France
triumph with higher life expectancies than the United States. We
need to join this league of industrialized, democratic nations
and switch from a privately funded health care system
to a national, single-payer system.

A tax-based universal healthcare system is economically feasible
and saves money, says John Laslett, a history professor who
specializes in American labor and immigration studies.

But there’s resistance. Some Americans believe health care
operates like a typical private market ““ they
don’t realize private health insurance is just one of
many health care options. In addition, many politicians of both
major political parties do everything in their power to stop any
bill that could affect the financial powerhouses of the health
insurance and pharmaceutical industries ““ both major
contributors to various political campaigns.

So how can Ralphs employees obtain health care? How can every
citizen, regardless of personal income, utilize universal and
quality health care?

“(Politics) will determine the future of health
care,” said Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor who is also
the director of the University of California Institute for Labor
and Employment.

The American people should employ their political influence to
ensure health care does not remain subject to the inconsistencies
of business and the economy, but to a dependable single-pay
system.

Now, American citizens must drop their senseless fears of
universal health care and demand a new health care system that
benefits the state of public health, including the welfare of
workers located only blocks away from UCLA.

But if people remain quiet, Congress will pass bills
catering to the insurance companies that support them ““ not
the American citizens they are supposed to represent.

Fried is a first-year history student. E-mail her at
[email protected]. Send general comments to
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