'Why we need Medicare for All': Boeing revokes health benefits for striking workers

Boeing revoked the company-sponsored healthcare benefits of about 33,000 striking workers starting Tuesday, drawing condemnation from progressives, who said it showed the need for a universal healthcare system in the United States.

The workers, who are mostly in Washington state and are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), went on strike on September 13, and the corporation announced on its website that their healthcare benefits would expire at the end of the day on September 30.

"Boeing's greed offers another perfect example of why we need Medicare for All," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on social media. "Like other wealthy countries we must guarantee healthcare to every man, woman, and child as a human right, not a job benefit. Whether you're on strike or not, everyone is entitled to healthcare."

Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), wrote on social media that "healthcare should not be tied to employment."

"Also, shame on Boeing!" she added.

Many companies have been accused of cutting off healthcare benefits as a strike-breaking tactic. General Motors revoked healthcare benefits to striking workers in 2019, and Warrior Met, a coal mining company, did so in 2021; John Deere, meanwhile, threatened to follow suit during its 2021 strike.

In 2022, House Democrats moved to establish a federal law preventing the maneuver, but the proposed bill didn't pass.

Washington state, which has a Democratic trifecta, did pass legislation this year providing a modicum of support to striking workers. The new law allows workers involved in a labor dispute open enrollment into subsidized healthcare through the state exchange system.

The striking Boeing workers said they plan to remain steadfast despite the cutoff of benefits.

"I'm 50 years old. I've been working since I was 16," Robert Silverman, told a local reporter from the picket line on Monday. "I've been saving for a long time. From day one in my hiring process, they told us about this day, they said to be ready."

The healthcare cutoff followed a month of frenzied negotiations. On September 8, Boeing and IAM reached a tentative deal that could have averted a strike, but the 33,000 workers voted overwhelmingly against it days later, opting to go on strike.

The strike has effectively stopped Boeing's commercial airline production, though most of its 170,000 workforce is not on strike, and the corporation continues production in other domains.

The points of dispute in the negotiations include wages and retirement benefits. The tentative deal included a 25% wage increase by the end of a four-year contract, but employees wanted a 40% increase. On September 23, Boeing proposed a 30% increase, saying that was its "best and final" offer. IAM rejected it, angered by the wording and the fact that the offer was made via the media, rather than directly to the union.

Boeing, once a beacon of U.S. industrial prowess, was already in turmoil before the strike began after a series of scandals in recent years that have raised serious questions about its commitment to safety.

The corporation has also long been in the crosshairs of progressives and working-class advocates who say its management has been especially greedy.

"Boeing could have taken help to keep people on payroll through Covid, but they turned down billions in federal assistance because it came with strings such as banning stock buybacks and capping executive compensation," Nelson, the AFA-CWA leader, told Common Dreams. "This company has bowed repeatedly before the alter of shareholder capitalism."

Nelson said the union's campaign for fair pay and benefits was in fact connected to efforts to improve safety protocols.

"Machinists are fighting... [for] good union jobs and in the process they are fighting for our safety," she said. "We stand with them. This strike is the best chance we have of saving Boeing and making it once again a marvel of engineering and solid maintenance."

The push for Medicare for All in the U.S., meanwhile, remains muted, despite the failures of the U.S. healthcare system. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation as a senator, but hasn't included it as part of her 2024 platform.