Posts Tagged: Health Care

For the past few weeks, Local Unions who are affected by the A&P bankruptcy have been hosting resource fairs to help displaced members and their families.

These events help members with resume writing, job applications, job search, health care information and obtaining new skills. They also provide attendees with in-depth information about how to sign up for programs that are designed to help them and their families.

Additionally, to help members find new jobs, locals arranged for local union grocery stores to participate in these events so that they may speak directly with and accept applications from members about openings they may have.

A video has been created using footage from these resource fairs that highlights this important work. Everyone is encouraged to share this video so that every member affected by the A&P bankruptcy can be aware of all the help that is available to them.

Retirees from the Kraft-Heinz company in Wisconsin became concerned when they began receiving letters telling them that their health care was changing to give them more “flexibility, choice and control.” Because they had a union while they worked, they reached out to UFCW Local 538 in Madison, Wis., which confirmed that the “choice and control” were really cuts and complications to their health plans.

“What Kraft-Heinz is trying to do is break a promise,” said Doug Leikness, president of UFCW Local 538. “We’d fought hard for retiree health care over the years, and now they are trying to walk back from that commitment and leave their most loyal employees in the lurch.”

UFCW Local 538 immediately began raising the alarm. Kraft-Heinz faced an avalanche of bad press from both local and national publications revealing that more than 15,000 retired workers and their families had been affected by these cuts. However, only former UFCW members had somebody fighting for them.

Rhonda Hansen had worked at the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison for 19 years as a member of UFCW Local 538 before retiring two years ago. Her family depends on the health insurance she earned through years of hard work – especially her husband Dale, who has Alzheimer’s and has suffered from both skin cancer and heart problems.

“Kraft-Heinz is owed by some of the richest people in the world, including Warren Buffet,” said Hansen. “But when they’re looking to cut costs, they pull the rug out under loyal workers like me. I’m just grateful I still part of a union that’s still out there fighting for me.”

While they haven’t rolled back the cuts yet, and the fight still continues. Leikness says UFCW Local 538 is looking for new ways to pursue the struggle to ensure former UFCW members get the benefits they deserve.