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