The recent UAW GM pension and medical care settlement is not a fore
runner of other medical care settlements except for the expected Ford
and Chrysler follow on.
What happened is that UAW has agreed to have GM cover the currently known actuarial costs of the retirees medical care, over a decade. If the earnings are insufficient, GM will contribute more, if the medical costs rise too fast the UAW will be responsible for cutting back services.
Seems reasonable to me and is a credit to the UAW's ability to understand the nature of international automobile competition.