Unions and employers are battling over who should pay for Obamacare’s added costs, such as coverage for dependent children up to age 26 and future costs like the tax on “Cadillac” health plans starting in 2018, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the issue is a “poised to become a significant point of tension” as thousands of labor contracts involving millions of workers expire in the coming year.
Unions offered President Obama support in the run-up to his health care law’s passage, but now they face cost increases ranging from 5 percent to 12.5 percent during current negotiations, the Journal reports.
From transit workers in Philadelphia to housekeepers and waiters in Las Vegas, the situation threatens to hold up labor on key projects and services, the newspaper says, as unions fail to gain concessions from the White House that could ease their burdens.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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