UAW Sues Honeywell on Behalf of Retirees
The UAW has filed a lawsuit against Honeywell on behalf of about 1,100 retirees whose health and life insurance benefits have been reduced.
The retirees formerly worked at Bendix facilities in Detroit and Madison Heights, Mich., and Elmira, N.Y. They were represented by Locals 104, 771 and 604, respectively.
The complex case involves corporate spinoffs, mergers, acquisitions and name changes. But the foundation is an agreement by Bendix to guarantee the retirement benefits at the three facilities. Bendix later merged with Allied Corp., which was subsequently acquired by Honeywell.
The Bendix agreement was made after Bendix was forced to divest itself of Fram Corp., on anti-trust grounds. Bendix responded by spinning off part of the company to create a new entity, Facet Enterprises. To secure the UAW’s agreement to the spin-off, Bendix guaranteed the retirement benefits that are currently at issue. Recently, those benefits were reduced by one of Facet’s successors.
“This is another example of corporate greed and a total disregard for the years of loyal service provided by the workers,” says Geri Ochocinska, director of Region 9, where the Elmira facility is located. “Those retirees are now left with the burden of having to pay for needed health care and prescriptions from a meager pension and/or Social Security. For many of the retirees it will mean doing without some of life’s bare necessities.”
The two Michigan facilities have closed, but Region 1 Director Ken Terry promises “to continue to fight for our retirees’ rights. We’ll do whatever we can to ensure that the employer lives up to its guarantee.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.
