David Lillie, a retired member of Local 933 in Tucson, AZ, testified about the suffering caused by Raytheon’s decision to cut health care coverage for 1,000 former employees.
iMail - 9/25/2008 - Local 933 member David Lillie, a retiree from Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ, testified today before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, about the severe personal and financial consequences of Raytheon’s decision to eliminate health care coverage for its retirees.
Lillie is one of 1,000 Raytheon retirees who were promised company-paid medical insurance under terms of a contract negotiated by Local 933 in Tucson, AZ.
“Retirees have been forced to sell a large part of their retirement dreams in order to afford the premiums they now have to pay,” testified Lillie. “More than a few retirees have had to mortgage their homes that were paid off in order to pay medical expenses that were not covered under a cheaper plan.”
In a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the retirees, U.S. District Judge David Bury ruled that the IAM contract with Raytheon “unambiguously provide vested medical benefits for retirees until age 65 at no cost.”
Despite the ruling, Raytheon is appealing Judge Bury’s decision, causing additional suffering and financial hardship for Raytheon retirees, many who have been without heath insurance since it was unilaterally terminated in 2004.
