SK Hand Tools Teamsters strike for health care

[Communist]

http://fightbacknews.org/2009/08/images/sk-strike-photo.jpg

Photo by Jo Cottenie




SK Hand Tools Teamsters strike for health care (http://fightbacknews.org/2009/08/SK-Hand-Tools-Teamsters-strike--health-care.htm)

By staff

Chicago, IL - When the owner of SK Hand Tools in Chicago unilaterally cut off health care benefits for his employees, he provoked a strike. As a result, the picket line of striking workers on Tuesday, Aug. 25, was also a health care rally.

50 Teamsters hit the sidewalk in front of the plant at 6:00 a.m., as passing truckers blasted air horns in support. With arthritis in both knees, Sam Pope was having a hard time marching. “The concrete really hurts, but I’ll do my part,” he winced. For 15 years he had set up mills to make the inner bodies of the sockets for Craftsmen and SK brand tools. “All the union people are out,” he said, turning to join the line, which was true, as the members of Teamsters Local 743 had voted unanimously to strike.

The chant that rose up loudest and longest was, “What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!” Most in the U.S. who have health insurance get it from their employers, and for Sam with his chronic condition, there was no question that he’d fight to get it back.

The company is demanding major wage concessions on top of stopping health care coverage without notice.

David Biedrzycki, a union steward at the plant and employed as a welder/grinder/polisher for 25 years, only earned $8,000 this past year. He has not worked in six months and noted the irony that Claude Fuger, the wealthy French owner, returned to France recently for treatment when he became ill. France has national health care. “Claude makes $280,000 a year. He wants us to pay for health insurance, but says he can’t afford it himself.”

Biedrzycki said “We’re not going in until Claude comes back with a fair offer.”

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[Communist]

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Teamsters strike in Chicago after company unilaterally
cancels health benefits

SK Workers on Strike!

Posted On: Aug 26, 2009 (08:08:38)

http://www.743teamsters.org/

Workers at SK Hand Tools in Chicago and McCook have
been on strike since 5:30am Tuesday morning over the
company's unilateral withdrawal of their health care
coverage.

The strike is being covered by every Chicago media
outlet, which shows how important the issue of justice
is to the general public.

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Workers strike after health care yanked
SK Hand Tool union's contract expired

by Francine Knowles And Cheryl V. Jackson,
Staff Reporters

Chicago Sun-Times - August 26, 2009

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1734975,CST-NWS-strike26.article


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.

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Update on SK Strike

Updated On: Aug 27, 2009 (08:16:00)

http://www.743teamsters.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=136440

"People's spirits are high from all the community
support," said Emilio Lunar (pictured below on the
left). "Please come out and stand with us - even if
you only have 5 minutes," he continued.

SK management called the union into a negotations
meeting today with a mediator, yet only offered the
same proposals they've been offering all along.

The union has been offering to bring the company into
the Local 743 Health and Welfare plan at a greatly
reduced rate but the company keeps declining. In
response to SK's press release yesterday about being
dropped by a 3rd party administrator, union officials
say they don't know what the company is talking about.

"This strike has captured the imagination of people of
concience across Chicagoland," said Local 743 president
Richard Berg. "The strikers are strengthened by the
overwhelming show of solidarity from supporters. We
will continue to fight till we get justice," he
continued.

Click here to see the coverage on the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters website.
<http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-strike-over-lost-health-insurance>

Click here to see the coverage on the Joint Council 25
website.
<http://www.chicagoteamsters.org/news/2009/082509_L743_SKHandToolsStrike.html>

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to people on the left that will help them to
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[Communist]

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SK Hand Tool Strike enters second week (http://fightbacknews.org/2009/09/sk-hand-tools-strike-enters-second-week.htm)

By Stephanie Weiner


http://fightbacknews.org/2009/09/images/sk-honk-health.jpg (http://www.743teamsters.org/)

Chicago, IL - As the strike at SK Hand Tool moves into its second week, it is clear it is picking up momentum. On Sept. 2 a contingent of workers went downtown to tell their strike story to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who was in town to present a Labor Day speech.

Solis posed for pictures with SK workers John McHale, Julio Covar and Victor Moran and spoke with Emilio Lunar. Solis said that her father had been a Teamster and that she, “knew all about the SK Tool strike and was looking into it.” The question posed to her from the floor in front of media and labor leaders at the luncheon was an attempt to bring the real life situation of shafted SK Tool workers with no health insurance into the national debate about health care.

This week the SK Tool workers will testify to the National Labor Relations Board about the illegal cutting off of their health insurance. The French owner did not even tell the workers that they were no longer covered as their medical bills piled up.

Solidarity messages from across the country are beginning to pour into the Teamster 743 office and on the strike support Facebook page as plans develop for a national day of action.

The Labor Secretary's office called the Teamsters the very next day to follow up and get a copy of the actual workers’ contract. Governor Quinn announced that he will walk with the strikers next week. All these things make the workers optimistic that a victory is coming.

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[Communist]

SK Strike Still Strong After 8 Days on the Line (http://www.743teamsters.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=137064)

The Sisters and Brothers striking at SK Hand Tools continue to walk the picket line 24/7 on the 8th day of the strike. Support is coming from all over the country from labor unions, health care reformers and concerned citizens. The media is also still following this event with great interest, and the workers are becoming national spokespeople for the healthcare debate.

Please join our Sisters and Brothers at both strike lines - at any time of the day or night!
Chicago: 3535 W. 47th St.
McCook: 9500 W. 55th St.

Click here (http://labornotes.org/node/2402) to read the coverage in Labor Notes.

The National Labor Relations Board hearing for the unfair labor practice charges against SK Hand Tools begins at 11am on Thursday, September 3rd at 209 S. LaSalle St.

The SK Strikers and Teamsters Local 743 will march on Labor Day at the Immigration Reform and Workers Rights march from Union Park to the Federal Plaza. After the march, join us for the Pullman Labor Day Celebration at 111th and Cottage Grove.
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[Communist]

CHICAGO
Teamsters on strike to save health insurance (http://www.workers.org/2009/us/teamsters_1022/)

By Dante Strobino
Chicago
Published Oct 15, 2009 8:22 PM

Amidst the national debate about health care, a Chicago factory boss has cut workers and their families off from their health insurance coverage. The 70 workers at the SK Hand Tools factory, which is on 47th Street in Chicago, have been on strike since Aug. 25.

That was the date when the company’s French owner, Claude Fruger, stopped paying the workers’ health insurance premiums, a requirement of their union’s collective bargaining agreement.

http://www.workers.org/2009/us/teamsters_1022.jpg
Chicago picket for health care.
WW photo

Many workers found this out the hard way—by going to see their doctors for medical treatment only to be told that their insurance was invalid.

“Right now, these workers have no health insurance for themselves or their families, and it’s a tragedy we’re trying to rectify,” said Richard Berg,
president of Teamsters Local 743. “We hope the company will come to their senses and give these people the basic benefits they need.” (www.tdu.org (http://www.tdu.org))

The factory workers brought the issue to the National Labor Relations Board, citing it as an unfair labor practice. On Sept. 2, the NLRB held a trial on this issue. If the workers prevail at the trial, the owners will be forced to pay them back for accrued medical expenses and they will have to again bargain with the union.

There are still many major issues that the company hasn’t addressed. One crucial issue is that the workers have been working under an expired contract since February. They refuse to accept $6 an hour in wage cuts or increases in health care costs.

“Management just unilaterally cut off health insurance and has asked for deep concessions. [Fruger has] threatened to cut off their pensions and he wants to turn what was a good job into a job for high school kids from McDonald’s,” said Berg. (Labor Beat radio)

In the seventh week of the strike, workers are on the picket lines. For many, this is their first strike. They are in high spirits and feel confident in their fight.

Other unions doing business with the factory have honored the picket line. Teamsters in Local 705 who drive the Yellow-Roadway and UPS trucks have refused to deliver or pick up products while the workers are on strike. The factory is idle and the bosses are afraid of threats that major customers will go elsewhere for business.

On Sept. 18, in order to increase corporate pressure on Sears—their factory owner’s biggest customer—workers rallied in front of the Sears department store on Dearborn Street in Chicago’s downtown Loop.

Worker and community pressure is increasing. Many community supporters and other workers have joined the SK Hand Tools factory strikers on the picket lines, and have brought food and gifts for them.

To show support for the striking workers, call Claude Fruger, CEO, SK Hand Tools, at 800-752-7263. Or call Sears at 847-286-2500 to protest its sale of SK products.

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