OUR COMMUNITY

T

he future of Detroit
and the U.S.-based
automakers during the
summer of 2007 had never
looked so dreadful. General
Motors, negotiating with the
United Auto Workers union
toward a new labor contract,
had lost more than $12 billion
during the previous two years.
Bankruptcies for one or more
of the Big Three automakers
were growing more likely.
Desperate to stave off col-
lapse, the Big Three proposed
shrinking large liabilities for
future medical and other
post-retirement benefits to
which hourly workers were
promised. If bankruptcy
happened, little or no money
would be available for health
care.
The UAW and the industry,
however, found a solution:
Entitlements would be secured

by a separate, indepen-
dent trust. The automakers
agreed to fund the Voluntary
Employee Benefit Association
(VEBA), which was empow-
ered to pay retirees’ medical
benefits. In return, the three
automakers were able to
remove the massive liabilities
from their balance sheets.
But who had the skill,
experience and the credibility
to organize and oversee the
VEBA trust? With automak-
ers and the union so often at
odds, who could the union
and automakers appoint to
ensure the VEBA remained
true to its mission, competent
and, importantly, sufficiently
funded to cover more than $50
billion of future medical bills
for hundreds of thousands of
retired autoworkers?
The UAW and auto indus-
try agreed that Bob Naftaly

was the right person to orga-
nize the VEBA’s creation and
lead its board. A longtime
financial executive who had
served the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit as
well as Democratic governors
Jim Blanchard and Jennifer
Granholm, Naftaly had retired
a few years earlier as Executive
Vice President of Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Michigan.
Finance was his skill, public
service his passion — and
problem-solving an invaluable
attribute.
Naftaly, 83, continues to
serve as chair for what now
is known as the UAW Retiree
Medical Benefits Trust, which
pays out roughly $3.5 billion
annually in health care benefits
to nearly 600,000 former auto
workers and their dependents.
In addition to other prominent
financial roles, the UAW knew

How Bob Naftaly, in the face
of automaker bankruptcies,
helped save health benefi
ts
for 872,000 UAW retirees.

Achievement!

A
Masterful

14 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021

DORON LEVIN
SPECIAL TO THE
JEWISH NEWS

Bob Naftaly is the
founding chair of
the UAW Retiree
Medical Benefits
Trust.

GLENN TRIEST