Scheduling Issues

Mandatory overtime was one of the issues over which the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike for six months in late 1979 against International Harvester, Navistar’s predecessor. That strike helped push Harvester close to bankruptcy, and was one of the factors that triggered a restructuring at the firm in 1981.

Analysts say Navistar is well-positioned to endure a strike. The slowing economy has slackened demand for new products, for one thing. Additionally, Navistar now has a truck plant in Mexico, as well as non-union plants in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The Warrenville, Illinois-based truck and engine maker’s contract with the United Auto Workers expires October 1.

Hard Lines?

Navistar is only the latest manufacturer able to flex more negotiating muscle because of the weak economy. Earlier this month, Boeing drew a hard line with workers – and survived a strike vote (see Boeing Workers Say “No” to Contract – And Strike) .

While neither the company nor the UAW would comment on the talks, Crain’s said that union insiders and some industry observers privately expect to see a strike, since the UAW, which doesn’t want to show weakness in advance of talks next year with the Big Three automakers, will likely dig in against major concessions.

Navistar currently has about 7,100 active and inactive UAW employees, compared with 8,000 in 1997 when the last contract was signed, according to the company.

Benefits September 20, 2002

Mental Ailments Hit Armed Forces Personnel Hard

September 20, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Members or the US armed forces most frequently suffer from mental ailments such as depression and substance abuse, presenting one of the nation's largest employers with a unique challenge, according to new research.

Reported by

Fred Schneyer

Not only that, but a study by military researchers found that active-duty armed forces members during the 1990s were much more likely to leave the service altogether after mental health treatment than when they were physically ill, a Reuters story reported.

According to the study directed by Dr. Charles Hoge of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, mental conditions had become the second leading cause for hospitalization by 1995 as well as the fifth-leading cause of outpatient clinic visits in 1998-1999.

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Hoge’s group examined hospital visits for all military personnel between 1990 and 1999 and 1998 and 1999 outpatient clinic visits.

Patients’ specific ailments included (in order)

alcohol- and drug-related disorders
mood disorders such as major and mild depression
a group of conditions known as adjustment disorders. Adjustment disorders involve an inability to deal with stressful events that is severe enough to get in the way of work and life.

Home “Run”

Overall, the researchers found, mental health problems appeared much more likely than physical ills to affect service members’ ability to stay on the job. For example, nearly half of soldiers hospitalized for a mental disorder in 1996 left the service within six months. That compares with 12% of those hospitalized for physical conditions.

Studying the military, Hoge’s team notes, provides a “unique opportunity” because it is one of the healthiest US populations, is ethnically diverse and has equal access to healthcare.

The fact that mental disorders have such an impact in the military, they conclude, provides new evidence that mental illness is “common, disabling, and costly to society.”