But this morning, in an extraordinary meeting in Washington, the chiefs of Wal-Mart Stores and the Service Employees International Union will stand together and agree on a series of goals for achieving universal health coverage, according to people briefed on the matter.
The two men might even shake hands.
The meeting between H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive of Wal-Mart, and Andrew L. Stern, president of the S.E.I.U., which caps months of secret conversations, could be the beginning, however tentative, of a détente between the nation's largest employer and its labor critics.
At least on one issue. But the issue - providing affordable health insurance - is arguably the biggest facing both Mr. Stern and Mr. Scott. Wal-Mart, which insures fewer than half its workers, has identified health care as potentially the biggest vulnerability to its image and business, and the S.E.I.U., one of the country's biggest unions, has called it the No. 1 priority for its members.
So during today's meeting, Mr. Stern and Mr. Scott will announce a campaign to seek public acceptance of several principles of health policy. One goal is universal health coverage by a specific date, somewhere around 2012. Another is the idea of shared responsibility, emphasizing that individuals, businesses and government all play roles in financing health care and expanding coverage.
Executives from AT&T, Intel and several nonprofit organizations will also participate in today's meeting.
Notable in their absence were representatives from health-insurance companies. Despite the cash that they're willing to dump into anti-healthcare ad campaigns (Harry and Louise, anyone?), the insurance industry, in the long-run, will be overwhelmed by U.S. corporations who need universal healthcare to keep their businesses competitive.
For-profit health insurance is a lot like asbestos: dangerously obsolete. When even Wal-Mart understands that, our political leaders are flat out of excuses on this issue.
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