Editor:

One of the issues that the California State University system faculty strike underscores is the fact that a large part of labor negotiations involve the protection of health benefits for employees ("Cal State Faculty Ends Strike After Reaching Tentative Contract Agreement," posted Jan. 23). This issue repeats itself in just about all labor-management disputes. For employers, labor costs include both wages and benefits. So when insurance premiums rise rapidly, wages stagnate. A recent study found that this phenomenon reduced total worker income from 1988 to 2019 by 5 percent.

How much better it would be if the United States had universal health coverage unattached to people's jobs and funded by a unified, publicly financed nonprofit health insurance system, also known as Single Payer or an improved version of Medicare? Progressive taxes would replace regressive premium payments made to private for-profit health insurance companies. Unions could then focus on improving working conditions and increasing wages. Studies have revealed that the savings for individuals, families, businesses and the government would be substantial.

Margaret Emerson, Arcata