SK Hand Tool union's contract expired

August 26, 2009

BY FRANCINE KNOWLES AND CHERYL V. JACKSON
Staff Reporters


Unionized workers launched a strike at SK Hand Tool Corp.'s Chicago and McCook sites Tuesday after the company dropped employees' health insurance coverage without notice, according to a Teamsters official.

The company's action in May has left some workers saddled with costly medical bills and others worrying what they will do if they or their families get sick, said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743. The union represents about 75 workers at the company.

Workers found out their insurance was dropped after they noticed no health care insurance premium deductions were taken out of their paychecks, Berg said.

The union has been in discussions with the company, but has been unable to resolve the matter, which prompted the unfair labor practices strike, he said.

"This has been devastating," Berg said. "It's like anybody else in society. If you don't need health insurance, you're fine, but when you need it, you really need it."

Donna Pustul is now paying $354 to refill a 90-day prescription that had cost her $40.

Other workers, such as Lazaro Godeaez, are putting off visits to the doctor.

"I'm supposed to go see him every six months. Now that I don't have insurance, I don't go see the doctor," said 54-year-old Godeaez, who says he's healthy, but any new maladies might have been brought on by cuts at work. "I've got anxiety maybe."

A high blood-pressure patient, Kim Prach, is supposed to go to the doctor every three months. His last visit was two months ago, and he's not planning another anytime soon, he said.

"I'm afraid because I might have to go to the hospital," said Prach, 51, a 25-year SK employee. "I may break down and die at home."

His co-worker, Dejan Gavatski, had emergency hernia surgery last month, leaving him with more than $20,000 in bills.

"The doctor said I couldn't wait," said Gavatski, 28.

He's paid $2,000 to $3,000 in related hospital costs. Had he had health insurance, as he did up until May 1, he would have paid about $1,000 out of pocket.

"People are threatened with losing their homes, with financial ruin," Berg said.

The company said in a statement, "We realize that employees want to have health care, and we wish that we could provide them with coverage. The elimination of the coverage was not our choice; rather, it was due to a third-party's decision to remove coverage, which was beyond our control."

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the company in July, and a hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 3.

If found in violation of the law, the company would be required "to restore the status quo" as it was before the violation and would have to bargain with the union in good faith, said a board spokeswoman. If workers suffered any financial hardship, the company would have to remedy that as well, she added.

The union's contract with the company expired in February. New contract talks began in January, but there was no discussion of dropping health insurance before the company dropped it in May, according to Berg.

"Health insurance wasn't a sticking point" before, he said.

The company "is having some financial difficulties," and has sought wage concessions, including a 20 percent wage cut, plus a $4-an- hour wage cut for the first six months of a new contract, he said, adding that workers have not had a wage increase in six years.

Workers' hourly wages range from about $11 to $19, and the average hourly pay is $14, according to a union representative.